Eating Chocolate Makes You Fat
by Nadie2
Summary: ...but not always the way you expect. Joyce finds herself pregnant after"band candy". She and Giles plan for co-parenting while deeper feelings (love, disgust, and everything in between) start to develop. They try to keep it all secret from Buffy. This story definitely has a lot of Giles and Buffy in a parent child relationship as well as Giles and Joyce in a romantic one.
1. Candy, Gingerbread, and Tea

-During Band Candy-

Buffy Summers had two parents. Not in the traditional sense of course; that all went up in smoke when she started slaying and her dad took off. But there was no doubt about it, she had two parents. One of them might be a watcher, but watcher/father…potato/potahto.

Sometimes it felt like they were pulling her in two directions. Sometimes she played Mommy against Daddy. It was the oldest trick in the book. Just tell Mom that she was slaying, and Giles that she was studying.

She didn't understand why they were so angry when they teamed together and found out about all of the lies. She didn't know all the places Giles looked for her when she was gone last summer. She didn't know that her mother fell apart. Buffy didn't get what it was like to be a parent.

Until, of course she ended up having to parent her mother and her watcher when they were turned into teenagers by chocolate. While parenting a slayer was no easy task it was nothing like controlling Ripper. She wasn't a very good parent. In one night they managed to have sex, smoke, steal, and commit felony assault on a cop.

-After Gingerbread-

"Hi," Joyce says awkwardly standing at the entrance to the door to his apartment.

"Is Buffy all right?" Giles says, quickly grabbing his coat to make a hasty exit to save the world, or his slayer, which to him was the same.

"Yes, she's fine," Joyce says.

Giles drops his coat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were meant only be here because of Buffy. Please come in, and I'll make you some tea."

"Thanks. I'm sorry about your books," Joyce mutters.

He turns from her, and fills the tea pot. "It's not your fault. You were possessed by a demon."

"I tried to kill my own daughter, Giles," Joyce says.

He knows it isn't her fault, he's done worst to people he cared about while not being possessed. But he's still a little angry that Buffy nearly died at hands of her mother. He slowly fills the tea kettle, and puts it on to boil so he can avoid looking in Joyce's face, "That's not what you were asking forgiveness for, and if it was, you're asking the wrong person."

"Buffy thinks I forgot," Joyce says.

He turns and looks at her, and she's surprised that there is no judgment in his eyes. Then again, they have managed to keep the fact that they had sex with each other from Buffy. He turns back, and starts carefully measuring the tea into cups.

"I'm a horrible mother," Joyce says, trying to keep herself from crying. She promised herself she wasn't going to cry.

"That's not true. Buffy is amazing. You've done a good job of raising your daughter," Giles says to her.

"I'm pregnant," Joyce says.

Giles stares at her, and the tea kettle starts to whistle.

"It's yours," Joyce continues.

"Yes, I gathered that," Giles say, taking off his glasses, and cleaning them.

Joyce pours the water into the cups, and then she reaches for her cup, and he puts a hand out to stop her. "Let it steep." Then he realizes he's touching her hand, and he pulls away like he's on fire. Joyce takes a step back. "Giles, if you wanted me to leave, if you needed some time…"

"Stay," he commands.

They stand in silence for a bit looking anywhere but at each other. "Does the tea need silence to steep?" Joyce asks softly.

"No, sorry, just trying to…we have got to be the oldest teen parents ever," he says.

It breaks the tension, and by the time Joyce finishes laughing she finds herself sitting next to Giles at the table with tea in front of her.

"Is tea ok for you to have?"

"Yeah, one cup isn't enough to hurt the baby."

"I'm sorry, I just don't know how this all works," Giles mutters.

"I'm a little unclear myself," Joyce says, nervously fidgeting with the cup.

"You mean…us, and the baby? Joyce, we've been co-parenting for a while. Granted, we'll be dealing with an infant instead of an eighteen year-old, but I think we are going to get it figured out."

She takes a deep breath in relief.

He takes a sip of tea. "Have you told Buffy yet?"

"I thought we could give her a couple of days to deal with the fact that her mother tried to kill her before we announce the fact that she is going to be a big sister," Joyce says.

"We? So I am going to be included?" he asks hopefully.

She smiles. "I think she is less likely to freak out if you are there."

"Oh, I don't know about that, she's had some pretty great 'freak outs' with me as well," Giles says using his voice to put clear quotation marks around the words 'freak outs'.

"You ever thought about being a father before?" Joyce blurts the question that's been burning in her mind quickly, like ripping off a bandage.

"I thought Buffy was as close as I was ever going to be. When she came into my life, I was pretty sure my chance of romance was gone. I just didn't expect that I would end up with a baby without the romance."

Joyce blushes.

"I'm sorry, that was uncouth of me," he says hanging his head in bashfulness.

"I'm under no delusions about how this child came to be. We're adults now, but we weren't when this thing was conceived. We're not in love."

"No," Giles says. Then he pauses, and says, "Except maybe with the baby."

Joyce feels her heart melting. She's not even sure she'd say she loved this kid yet (it didn't feel real enough) and she's known about it for days longer than he has.

"So, I don't know if you want me to come to doctor's appointments or if that would be too awkward…" he says giving her a brief smile before looking away.

"I've already been to the doctor," Joyce says, and as Giles's face falls, she quickly adds, "but you can come to next month's appointment."

"If you'd rather I didn't…" he stammers taking a sip of the tea to cover the awkwardness.

"It's ok," she says, shifting her feet. Her foot hits his under the table, and it causes her stomach to do funny little back flips, and makes her feel like she hasn't since Ted, and with him she hadn't felt it until she'd been dating him for weeks.

His eyes lock with hers, and she can tell that he's feeling the same things, and is just as startled by the feelings as she is.

"Dinner?" he blurts.

"It's nine o'clock. I've eaten."

"I didn't mean now," he says blushing.

"Right," her stomach says doing back flips, while her eyes light up.

"Friday?" he asks.

"That works for me. Buffy is going to the Bronze so she won't be home until late."

"We are going to hide our relationship?" Giles asks with concern, and a touch of disappointment.

"She's been an only child for almost eighteen years. It's going to be hard enough for her to adjust to a sibling. I don't want her to have to deal with any more adjustments for a while."

"I don't like lying to Buffy," he says softly.

"We could delay the dinner," Joyce offers.

When he first found out about this baby, mere minutes ago, he didn't think it was critical to have any sort of relationship with its mother apart from the somewhat professional one he had with her over Buffy. Now that there seemed like there could be something more he doesn't want to delay it. If this kid has any chance of having a normal family, he is going to make sure that it gets that.

"Friday."

"I should probably get home," Joyce says.

"Right, Buffy should be returning from patrol," he says standing. "I'll pick you up at seven on Friday."

She stands too, reluctant for a second or two before moving to the door. He tries to open the door for her, and ends up with his arm in her personal bubble. They both back up.

Does it always have to be either awkward or exciting with us? Joyce wonders as she slips down the hallway.

Giles sits for a long moment at the table, and then he rushes for his bookshelf. He finds the correct ancient text in record time, and finds the spell he was looking for in it. It's just like he remembered, a simple spell, he's got all the ingredients on hand. Half of them are in the kitchen rather than his magic collection.

He mixes them together, and pauses a moment before he writes the name down on a piece of paper. "Baby Summers" is all he manages, but with this level of magic it should be enough.

The smoke swirls into an image, first of the baby just as it is. Tiny, looking more like the demons in his book than a child. Then it grows into a giggling baby, and the smoke figure stands and walks right toward him, aging at about a year per step.

When his son is within touching distance Giles reaches a hand toward him, and the spell is broken, and the smoke disperses.

-Friday-

"How come you're not telling me to go on patrol?" Buffy asks suspiciously.

"You're going to the Bronze," Giles says.

"I am, but I don't remember telling you that."

"Willow mentioned it."

"Ok, but still. Usually you at least give me a speech about destiny and responsibility, and what not." Buffy looks at her Watcher, who is most definitely blushing. "Giles, do you have a date?"

His silence speaks volumes.

"Good for you. I'll get out of your hair."

"Buffy?" he asks as she begins to leave. She turns back, and he pulls her into a bone crushing hug.

"Ah, what is that about?" she asks when it's over. "Is there some prophesy I don't know about? Am I going to die again tonight?"

"No, you're not in any danger," he assures her with a laugh.

"I guess we're Americanizing you. That whole 'British people don't show emotions' thing is wearing off a little. I'll run a quick patrol before I hit the Bronze."

-Later-

When she opens the door she sees flowers in his hands.

"How am I supposed to explain those to Buffy?" she asks.

"I don't know how I didn't think of that," he laughs at himself.

"They're very nice," she says.

"You can tell her they are from a secret admirer or something," he offers, ripping the card out, and handing them to her. She takes them and puts them on a table before shutting the door behind her.

"You do realize she killed my last boyfriend, right?" Joyce asks.

"Well, I'm not an evil robot that wants to kill you, so I think I'll be fine."

Joyce smiles, but then frowns. "She wasn't very happy with him before he went all nuts. I just…Giles, I worry this is going to ruin things between you and her."

The thought makes his stomach go all empty, and he realizes just how important his slayer has become to him. "You know, she didn't like me very much in the beginning either. She might not be too happy about this, but we'll work it out."

If he's that willing to work on a relationship with her daughter, how willing would he be to work on one with her? Hank could never deal with Buffy, not even before her slaying caused them to think that she had gone insane. Maybe their marriage would have worked out if her husband had been just a little bit more like the man before her.

Of course, if her marriage had worked out she wouldn't be going on a date with Rupert right now.

He opens the door for her, and she'd forgotten that people did that.

The conversation on the drive comes easy. At first it's about Buffy, but before long it's about the new exhibit in her art gallery. It turns out that multi-cultural art, and the ancient history of demon fighting aren't that far apart as far as interests go.

Joyce lights up when she talks about work. He shouldn't be surprised. The fact that she really loves her job is probably why she leaves Buffy alone so often. He knows the woman tries to be a good mother. He's seen the piles of parenting books on her bookshelf, and he's heard Buffy whine about the way she quotes them. He's just always wondered why she never tried spending more time with her daughter.

You could blame all the trouble Buffy used to get into on the fact that she was a slayer. Sure, some of it was that. The violence, and the destroying of places had no other cause.

The rest of it was from the fact that Buffy had been left alone ever since she was old enough to microwave some easy mac, and before that she'd been dropped off with a babysitter. They'd been sending the message that their careers were more important than their child since before she could talk, and no one should blame the kid if she'd actually learned the lesson from them.

He worries about _his_ child. Is Joyce going to want to pawn his baby off on some stranger? Or is she going to let him be the one to take care of it? If that's the case, what's he going to do if he has the kid, and the world needs saving?

Is Joyce's face going to light up like that when their baby reaches some milestone, or is it only the work of long dead artists that can get a reaction like that?

"Something wrong, Rupert?" she asks.

He tries not to startle at the use of his first name. After all, they are having a baby together. He's just used to being called Mr. Giles by her. More than that, he still needs that distance, particularly after coming out of the not so nice thoughts he was just having about her. "No, everything is fine," he assures her.

He flashes her a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. The sort of smile that her husband used to wear when he'd 'forgiven' Buffy for some infraction. Joyce isn't fooled, she just doesn't know what she did wrong.


	2. Dinner and a Movie

At five weeks into her pregnancy, Joyce thankfully hasn't had to contend with a whole lot of nausea. As soon as the restaurant brings Giles his shrimp though, things change.

"It's the smell isn't it?" he asks her quickly. At her nod he calls over his shoulder, "Waiter!"

"It's ok, you don't have to…" she protests.

"I'm sorry, could you take this away, and bring me what she has?" Giles asks with a disarming smile. "This had some unforeseen consequences."

The waiter glances at Joyce's pale face, and nods his head. "I've got three children myself," he says by way of understanding.

"I'm sorry," she mutters, as embarrassed by his chivalrous action as by her own illness.

"Think nothing of it." smiles a little bashfully, and tries to remember if Hank ever did anything this nice for her. This has to be first date kindness right? He wouldn't be this great the whole time, would he?

She wants to change the subject, so she asks Giles about the museum that he worked at before he took a job as school librarian. The museum interests her on a professional level, but it is the things that she reads between the lines that interest her on a whole other level. Like the fact that he was reluctant to take the job of Watcher, until he met her daughter. Like the fact that he hated teenagers, apart from the Scooby gang. Like the fact that not all love was romantic, and the way he loved her daughter and her friends was a powerful force that she couldn't help but envy.

Her baby was so lucky to have him a father.

-The Next Morning-

Buffy ends up going on patrol both before and after the Bronze the night before, and the after patrol resulted in her getting caught in a fight which lasted a lot longer than she had anticipated. So it was no surprise that she ended up sleeping in until ten the next morning.

The surprise came when she walked downstairs to the sight of Giles and her mother drinking tea in her kitchen. They are laughing at some joke when she comes downstairs, and she can't actually remember the two of them ever having a conversation with each other, band candy incident excluded.

"What's going on?" she asks suspiciously. They wouldn't have kept any of the band candy would they have?

"We need to speak with you," Giles says seriously, and Buffy slinks into a kitchen chair somehow acutely aware that she is about to have a serious conversation with the two adults who matter most to her while in her pajamas on a Saturday morning.

Giles stands up, and goes over to the stove.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asks.

"I'm making you a cuppa," he explains.

"I don't drink tea," Buffy points out.

"You might want some after we tell you…" Giles pauses and looks at her. "No, I don't suppose tea would help much."

"Ok, you guys are really freaking me out now, can you please tell me what is going on?" Buffy asks with terror in her voice.

"Buffy, we weren't completely honest with you about what happened last month when we were turned into teenagers," Joyce offers.

"We weren't lying so much as neglecting to tell you something we figured you really didn't want to hear," Giles points out.

"You thought you got there soon enough to stop us from doing something foolish. I'm sorry honey, but you weren't fast enough," Joyce says.

"Well, you were right about me really not wanting to hear that," Buffy says standing up, and trying to leave the kitchen.

Giles put a light hand on her arm to stop her. "There is a reason why we're telling you this now."

Buffy's head swims with the truth that she doesn't want to accept, "No, you've got to be kidding me! You're pregnant?" she asks her mother.

Her mother nods her head slowly, and Buffy sinks back into the kitchen chair.

"You got her pregnant?" she accuses her Watcher.

"Buffy, I know this must be quite the shock for you…" he says.

"But you guys are old," Buffy whines like a petulant four year old. They should have anticipated this reaction, Giles thinks to himself. Buffy makes up for the very adult job of slaying the undead and saving the world with the little girl voice, her innocent look, and the whining when things don't go her way. She is either ancient, or childish, never anything in between.

"I'll have you know, young lady, that neither one of us is too old for this _yet!"_ Joyce says, offended.

"Maybe not biologically, which is gross by the way, thanks for that. What I _meant_ was you guys are all old and responsible and not the sort of people to have a baby with someone you're not…you know…with!" she says.

Joyce and Giles meet eyes above Buffy's head for one split second over those words, to assure each other that they aren't really having a baby alone.

"We weren't exactly old and responsible when this baby was conceived," Joyce points out.

"Eww!" Buffy points out.

"You object to the word conceived?" Giles asks confused.

"Duh!" Buffy says.

Giles sighs. "What euphemism would you prefer I used in lieu of it?"

"I would prefer you didn't talk about this at all. Are you going to move in with us?" she asks Giles.

This causes both of the adults in the room to do a good impression of a panic attack.

"Buffy, we plan on raising this child together, but we don't have to be under the same household in order to do it," Giles says.

"Right, you can just drive over and pick the kid up one weekend a month if you don't find something more important to do," Buffy says, making a hasty retreat to her bedroom.

"You understand that the last part was about Hank, right?" Joyce asks.

"I don't think it was all about Hank," Giles says, staring up the stairs after her. "Do you mind if I go talk to her?"

Joyce can't help but do a bit of a double take. She's had a lot of conversations with her daughter when she was in this kind of a mood. None of them had ended well. Still, if he was willing to try, she wasn't about to stop him.

Buffy doesn't respond when he knocks at the door, but he comes in anyway, and sits down on the bed where she is face down in a pillow.

"Buffy, I swear I'm going to be there for this baby, and I'm going to keep being there for you, just like I always have."

"Just not all the time," she says.

"Watchers don't live with their slayers, Buffy," he says.

"Fathers live with their kids," she says turning her head to accuse him face to face.

"Usually."

"It's not fair," Buffy mutters.

"I don't know about that. I would agree that it's less than ideal, but I wouldn't say that it is not fair," he says.

"This kid isn't going to be the slayer, and it gets you for a dad. You're probably going to freak if it doesn't develop super powers by its first birthday or whatever. Then you have my dad, who wanted nothing more than a normal kid, and he got me instead. Everyone gets to be disappointed. It's like a cosmic joke," she mutters.

"Anyone disappointed by you is an idiot, Buffy. I don't know your father well enough to know if he is or isn't, but I certainly know he shouldn't be. You are not a disappointment to me, that is for sure. This kid isn't going to be a disappointment to me either. I'm not expecting slayer strength."

"Then why don't you want to be here all the time?" Buffy asks, sounding confused.

"That has nothing to do with you, or this baby. That has to do with your mother and me," Giles says.

"I'm not suggesting you live together like share a room and snack on your band candy in there. I'm just saying you guys could be together, in the same house, without being together."

Giles turns bright red at her suggestion, and looks away. "Buffy…this is going to be an adjustment for all of us. I'm not going to move in with you guys, but I'm going to see this baby more than just on weekends, and I'm certainly not going to be cutting down my time with you."

-The next night-

"Hello?" Joyce asks.

"This is Rupert, I'm sorry to bother you while you are at work," he stammers.

"No, it's ok," she says quickly.

"I was just wondering if you would like to see a film," he says quickly.

"I would love to…tomorrow?" she asks.

Giles finds himself relieved that he doesn't have to wait until the weekend. That would have been the proper, dignified thing to do, but this is better. "That sounds great, I'll pick you up at six-thirty," he says.

"See you then," Joyce says, and he clicks the phone off.

-The next night "Helpless"-

"I can't remember the last time I went to a film," Giles says, frowning at the marque. "I don't know what sort you like."

"I go in for romances myself, but we don't have to watch them if you are not going to enjoy them. I'm sure something a bit more fantasy would be more to your taste."

"I don't think that would end well. Whenever I watch them with the Scooby gang they end up having to pause them again and again because I'm complaining about how inaccurate they are."

"You don't mind a romance then?" she asks quietly.

He nods his head, and they walk up to the theater to buy their tickets. They get their popcorn, and sit down long before the previews.

Giles is filled with an enormous weight of guilt. "Buffy is almost eighteen," he points out.

"I know. I offered to throw her a party. She pointed out that parties have not gone well for her in the past. Besides, she's going to an ice show with her dad," Joyce bubbles.

"She's going to be gone the whole weekend?" Giles asks hopefully.

"No, he's just going to take her to the show, and bring her right back," Joyce says.

"Maybe he should take her for the whole weekend," Giles says.

Joyce looks at the man next to her with genuine disgust. "We're on our second date, and you are trying to get me to send my daughter away so we can have sex?" she whispers.

"That's not it," Giles says, turning bright red. He sighs, and glances around at the mostly empty theater. "Joyce, I'm supposed to dose your daughter with a poison which would make her lose her super powers. Then I am supposed to let them lock her in a cave with a monster. I don't want to do that."

Joyce turns to him with terror in her eyes. "What do you mean you are 'supposed' to poison my daughter?"

"Let's all leave," he says. "Let's take her and leave town."

"Who told you to do this to my daughter?"

He sighs. "The Watchers Council. Telling you means…I'm out. I just quit my job. I just couldn't hurt her Joyce."

"When are they doing this?" she asks, looking at him. He doesn't answer for a couple of seconds, and so she says, "I mean, should we go home and pack now, or can we watch the movie first?"

"I'm supposed to administer the first shot tonight."

"This weekend then…we'll all get away," she says. The previews start, and Joyce grabs his hand. She doesn't know what to say about his sacrifice. His stomach does a flip flop which he tries to ignore. It's just touch. Just a hand hold. It's not supposed to have that sort of effect on him.

At the most romantic part of the movie she rests her head on his shoulder, and sighs. He slips a hand around her back, and they nestle together close enough that the armrest between them starts to jab internal organs.

Neither one moves.

There was none of this before. There was just the kissing, and the sex. There was no holding, touching, hugging. All of those things were more intimate, somehow than the sex.


	3. The Big City

-Two nights later-

"It's not just cartoon characters. They do pieces from operas and ballets. Ryan Boy Tado doing Carman is a life changer. He doesn't actually play Carmen, but a lot of sophisticated people go," Buffy says.

"I thought your father was going to take you to the ice show," Giles says nervously. He's already supposed to have administered two weakening shots to her by now, and he's scared the council is going to figure out what he is doing.

"It turns out that his quarterly projections are unraveling, and he can't take me," she pouts. "It's usually something that families do together. If someone was free they could take their daughter, or student or slayer…" Buffy says, marveling at the fact that she isn't exactly sure which category she fits in anymore with him.

"Let's all go to the ice show. It's in LA, right? We could make a weekend of it, the three of us."

"The whole weekend? I'm pretty sure my mother couldn't get away from the gallery that long."

"She already agreed to it," Giles tells her.

Buffy blinks at him, "My mom already agreed to a weekend away?"

"Yes," he says.

"With you?" she says raising an eyebrow.

"Well, with both of us."

"What, does my new little sibling have some sort of mystical powers that completely change her personality from inside the womb?" Buffy asks in sarcasm.

"No mystical powers, I checked," he says.

"You checked?" Buffy says staring at him.

"Just a little precautionary aura check. In the middle ages it was rare for a baby to be born without one having been done," he defends.

Buffy stares at him some more.

"It's a boy by the way," Giles says, letting a smile sleek past his Britishness.

"Ok, let's forget about the fact that you're doing voodoo on my little brother before he's even born, and focus on the fact that my mom's acting weird," Buffy says.

"It's not voodoo. I don't know a single voodoo spell, I'm much more familiar with the ancient tradition of…"

"You're changing the subject again!" Buffy says in exasperation.

Giles looks at her, and lets out a sigh, "Buffy, your mother isn't doing anything out of character. She moved to another city to make sure that you were safe. I don't think it's odd for her to go on a trip for a week for the same reason."

"Safe? Why wouldn't I be safe?" she asks.

His face doesn't move.

"Giles, is this another prophecy? Am I going to die?"

"No, nothing like that, just let me take you to the ice show," he says softly, touching her arm.

She pulls away. "Not until you let me know what is going on."

"Buffy, I left the counsel. They wanted me to drug you so your powers would disappear for a couple of days. Then I was supposed to let them lock you in a room with an insane vampire as part of a test. I couldn't do it."

She stares at him in horror.

"I think the whole thing has been called off, but I can't be sure. For all I know they have a back-up plan, and are going to find another way to drug you. I just think it would be best to get out of town for a couple of days."

"And the ice show?" she asks.

"I don't see any reason why we can't have fun while we are running from the council," he says with more lightness than he actually feels.

They are standing a couple feet apart, and she leans in for a hug without moving her feet across the distance between them. He takes a couple of steps forward to make the hug less awkward. "Thank you," she says with a voice so choked in emotion that some of it threatens to come out as water.

"It's nothing really," he says bashfully.

"You just gave up your job for me, Giles. That isn't nothing," she says, pulling away to look at him in the face.

"You should go home and get packed," he says.

-That night-

Buffy can't believe what she is seeing. Giles and her mother are in the front seat of the car singing along to someone called "Cream" that Buffy has never heard of before.

Giles does a head bang, while driving.

"You guys didn't have any band candy, did you?" she asks nervously.

"No, honey, we're just enjoying ourselves," Joyce says with a giggle.

"Is there magic of any kind involved here?" Buffy asks.

"Of course not," Giles says.

"Ok, because you have used magic to peak in at the baby's future before. I thought you might have done something so we could have a nice family trip," Buffy says.

"You used magic on the baby?" Joyce asks with terror.

"Not on the baby, about the baby. I just did a little spell to check on him. See his aura, make sure he was healthy. It's a harmless spell."

"You can tell that it's a boy?" she asks.

"Well, the spell I did is only fairly accurate. Only about 80%. There is another spell with more accuracy, but we don't have all the ingredients for that one."

"Maybe we should get the ingredients," Buffy says helpfully from the backseat.

"Well, one of them is…a wedding ring," Giles says.

"I have one of those," Joyce says.

"Well, it doesn't work if there has been a divorce. Besides, it would have to be a marriage of the baby's parents," Giles says awkwardly.

There is a long awkward pause.

"I don't even know why we're talking about doing magic on this baby anyway. I don't want any more spells done on him," Joyce says.

"I swear, Joyce, it was perfectly safe. I mostly did it to make sure there was nothing medically or, you know, supernaturally wrong with him," Giles says.

"And he's fine."

"He's really good. He likes to laugh," Giles says, glancing away from the road for a second as he delivers this news.

Joyce smiles at this, and puts her hand on her stomach.

"Why don't we turn on some music that you like?" Giles asks Buffy.

"It's ok, you guys were having fun. Turn back on your old people music."

"I think we can all have fun to some music that is a little bit younger."

Buffy hands up a CD, and in seconds they are car dancing to something that Buffy calls "sounds to kill vampires by."

-That Night-

By the time they get to the hotel it is too late to do anything but head to bed. Buffy is asleep the second that her head hits the pillow. It's a survival method that she picked up shortly after she became the slayer. You don't get a lot of time in bed, so what you do get better be used in actual sleep.

Giles can't help but stare at Joyce over her head, and this causes Joyce to giggle. "Do you feel a little like we are a married couple and our kid has climbed into bed between us?"

"Did you want to be?" Giles asks suddenly.

It's a long time before Joyce answers him, because she is certain that she must have heard him wrong in the dark. When she does manage an answer it is nothing more than, "What?"

"Did you want to get married? We could get married before the baby came," Giles offers. Even from across the room she can hear the tension in his voice. The poor man, he fears nothing more than a 'yes' right now.

"I don't need to be rescued, Rupert. It's an unexpected pregnancy, not a demon attack."

"I'm sorry about all of this, Joyce," he says.

"I'm just as much to blame as you are," she says.

"No, I was the one who was really stupid as a teenager. I'm the one who took a gun from a cop, and stole from a store. If I hadn't been around…" he protests.

"Rupert, if you are under the impression I'm an innocent flower who never has sex without a magic spell you'd better get rid of the notion right now."

The dark room allows Giles to ask a question that he wouldn't have the courage for in the light. "Joyce, how do you feel about having another baby?"

"When Buffy was young, I didn't know how fast it went. I was working hard trying to get my career going, and I was trying to be a good wife and mother. I don't think…I stopped to enjoy it enough. I feel bad about that a lot. Not just because I wasn't the mother that I should have been, but because I missed out on all the fun parts of it. I'm looking forward to getting another shot at that. I'm not exactly looking forward to all the diapers, and I worry about how old I'm going to be by the time it…he is ready to be on his own. It's a mixed bag of excitement and terror I suppose."

"You know, she's not grown-up yet. She may be eighteen, but there are a lot of those moments left for Buffy."

Joyce turns toward him more in the dark. "She's not ready yet, is she?"

"For what?" Giles asks.

"For college, for living on her own, for being a grown-up. I haven't prepared her, have I?" Joyce voices the ancient primordial fear of every parent.

At first Giles has the urge to laugh at her fear. After all, it is the slayer that they are talking about. She saves the world on a regular basis. What is laundry or finances compared to that?

But if he's honest with himself, really honest, he knows that she is nowhere near ready. That as much as she does for herself, both he and Joyce have been sheltering her from bits of the real world for a long time.

It amounts to no more than mopping Atlas's brow as he holds the world on his shoulder, but it has eroded her independence, bit by bit.

"She's not an ordinary girl," Giles offers by way of answer.

"But she'll be all right, won't she? In the end?" Joyce asks.

Giles doesn't like the words that she chose. 'The end'? None of us are all right in the end, and for a Slayer the end is more likely to come sooner rather than later. But out loud he only says, "Indeed," and closes his eyes for sleep.

-The Next Night-

"You should take her to the ice show, Joyce. She's your daughter," Giles protests.

"I know, but she asked you. I offered to take her when we were back home, but she didn't want me," Joyce points out.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…" Buffy begins.

Her mother cuts her off. "I know honey. This has always been a father daughter thing for you. Giles is a lot more of a father to you than I am."

"Do you mind?" Buffy asks, with a face full of hope and fear. Just last night he was worried that she wasn't grown-up enough. Now, he finds himself hoping that she would stay young for a really long time.

"I would be honored," he says pulling her into a hug.

-Later-

"I thought it was impressive that I've been taking my daughter to this for twelve years. It looks like you guys have a couple of years on us," a man says, sitting down next to Giles with his young teenage daughter.

"Oh, she's not actually my daughter," Giles says, flustered.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You're not dating, are you?" the man says, alarmed.

"Eww!" Buffy says, at the same time that Giles says, "Certainly not!"

"Good," the man says, relieved.

"We're somewhere in the father/daughter zone," Buffy says.

"She's my pupil," Giles explains.

"He got my mom pregnant. That's a father-like thing, right?" Buffy offers.

Giles gives her an incredulous look for letting that information out to near strangers.

"Well, it's nice that you are bonding with your stepfather…" at the mutual flinch he modifies, "mom's boyfriend." Another flinch. "Enjoy the show," the father says turning away.

Giles and Buffy turn back to the show, which thankfully begins…with a ballet.

"You know, ballet is something like fighting. Some boxers train in ballet..."

"You're not teaching me ballet," Buffy interrupts.

"That's probably for the best, considering that fact that I don't know any ballet."

"Giles, how long ago did you run out of training ideas?"

"We worked through the manual two months ago. I've been making it up since then."


	4. Museums, Shopping, and Parking

"So we still have one day left in the city, and it is your birthday. What do you want to do with it?" Joyce asks her daughter.

"I don't know," she says fidgeting and looking at Giles.

"It is your day, we can do whatever you want," he encourages.

"Well, I want to go shopping, but I know that you won't like that. We can a museum or something."

Giles smiles at her, "I would love to go shopping with you."

"That's a lie," Buffy says with her eyebrow raised, "Seriously, you can go to the museum while Mom and I go shopping. I really don't mind."

"While I don't exactly relish the idea of spending the entire day shopping, I do want to spend time with you," Giles says.

"How about we split the difference. We go to the museum in the morning, and we go shopping in the afternoon," Joyce says.

-Later-

"Has anyone ever told you that you make a really good museum guide?" Joyce says.

"No," Giles says.

"You were a museum guide before weren't you?" Buffy asks.

"No, I was _curator_ of a museum," Giles corrects.

"Those things are different?" Buffy asks unwrapping a sucker, and popping it into her mouth.

"Just a little bit," Giles says with characteristic understatement.

-Even Later-

There Giles is sitting on the little chairs they put out for the men shopping with girls. He is holding not one, but two purses. Another man takes a seat next to him, and gives him a little nod of sympathy.

Buffy walks out and spins around in something way too tight.

"What do you think?" she asks.

"I think if you tried to fight in that, the seams would pop," Giles says.

"But it's cute, right?" she asks.

"It would be cuter if you could breathe," Giles says while frowning.

Buffy rolls her eyes and returns to the dressing room.

"Mine's a swimmer," the man next to Giles says.

"I'm sorry, what?" Giles says.

"My daughter…she's a swimmer. What is yours? A boxer or something?"

"She is more on the martial arts side of things," Giles says.

"Anne is sixteen, how old is yours?" the man asks.

Giles feels like he should explain that Buffy is not really his daughter, but he is bored, and he doesn't want to end this conversation in the awkwardness of the one last night at the ice show. So he just smiles and says, "She just turned eighteen yesterday."

"Oh, so you're almost done then."

"I don't like to think of it like that," Giles says.

"Sure, she'll graduate soon, and then you'll send her off to college."

"It went fast," Giles says.

"It always does," the other man says.

Joyce comes out of the changing room awkwardly wearing a maternity dress. "Am I too old for this?" she asks, pulling at the sparkly fabric.

"No, you look amazing," he says, standing up and letting the purses fall to the floor.

"I suppose all maternity clothes are going to be too young for me," she giggles.

"Well, if you think so, I'm sure we could find a very attractive mumu in that store you said was for old ladies on our way in here," he teases.

"Thanks a lot!" Joyce says, acting just like her daughter does when offended.

"Well, if you don't ask stupid questions you aren't going to get stupid answers. You look amazing, Joyce, no matter what you put on."

She blushes scarlet, and rushes back into the changing room.

Giles sits down, and accumulates the purses around himself again.

"You've got another one on the way," the man next to him says.

Giles nods. Now he feels even more awkward for claiming Buffy as his own. He'd thought of her like a daughter, almost since he'd known her. Now, when he was really going to be a father, it felt a little wrong, like his love for her was stealing something from his own flesh and blood.

-A month Later-

Joyce is on Giles's lap, hands are roaming, tongues are dancing, and suddenly he starts to laugh.

She pulls away and glares at him while still sitting on his lap.

"I'm sorry," he says, still giggling.

"I can't even begin to tell you what you do to a woman's self-esteem when the man she is with laughs at her when they are in the middle of making out."

"It's just…our relationship started when we were turned into teenagers, and here we are, months later, making out in the back seat of my car parked blocks from your house."

"You're right," she says, climbing off his lap and moving to sit next to him on the seat, which is quite the ordeal considering how small the back seat of Giles's car actually is.

"I didn't mean…damn that thought for occurring to me right now!" he explains.

"No, Giles, we are grown-ups. We should have a grown-up relationship. Why don't you spend the night at my house?"

"Maybe because your daughter doesn't know that we are dating? How on Earth were you planning on explaining my presence at the breakfast table?"

"Ok, so maybe you don't spend the night, or drive right _up_ to the house. We still sneak around a little bit, but I don't see any reason why we can't enjoy a bed."

"Why don't we go to my place?" Giles asks.

Joyce bristles, and then is silent for a long second. Giles isn't sure if he stepped over a line, or if he's ever going to find out exactly what is wrong with the plan.

"I don't like the idea of leaving her all night. I mean, sometimes one or both of us gets home so late that we don't actually get to see each other. Still, if I were to just not come home one night, I would worry that would be the day she came in stabbed or with some head wound. Besides, I don't even know if I could sleep well without being able to get up and check on her."

If Giles had had the luxury of a million guesses that never would have made the list. He knew that Joyce loved her daughter, and he knew that she worried about her. He just never knew that she actually took action to make sure that her daughter was safe.

He'd kind of figured that had been his job for the last three years.

"Alright," he says. He knows that it's a stupid plan, but for the first time since he entered into this relationship with Joyce, he's sure about it. He isn't sure if it's forever, or love, or anything, but for the first time he knows that it's real. That he and Joyce mean something even if there was no Buffy and no baby.

-Later-

When you fight evil all the time, you wouldn't think that things that go bump in the night would cause you much concern. After you saw the world almost end a couple of times, you would probably not worry about shapes in your closet or sounds in the house.

The thing that everyone who averts apocalypses knows, however, is that most of them start with a bump in the night. So when Buffy hears a creak of a board in the hallway, she immediately jumps out of bed, grabs her under-the-pillow dagger, and launches into the hallway.

The figure makes a grunting sound that doesn't exactly remind her of evil demon. It does remind her of someone though… "Giles?" she asks.

"Yes, can you get off of me?" he asks.

Buffy stands up quickly, and offers Giles a hand up. He pushes himself off the floor, and she isn't quite sure if it's because he can't see the offer for help in the dark, or whether he doesn't want to take help offered by someone who just assaulted him.

"Is there some sort of demon loose?" she asks.

"Everything is all right, go back to sleep," he says to her like she is some sort of small child that has just wandered out of her bed.

"The world isn't ending?" she asks, still confused.

"Of course not," he says, as if the thought of that happening never occurred to him.

"Then why are you in my house in the middle of the night?" she asks.

He looks downright sheepish, and suddenly a thought occurs to her. "You're dating my mom!" she practically shouts.

"Shh!" he says, pulling her into her own bedroom and shutting the door to keep the sound out. "You are going to wake her up."

"How long have you been with her?" Buffy's hand flies to her mouth. "Oh my gosh! The whole thing when the candy made all of the adults go nuts! It didn't make you go completely nuts! It just made you forgot to hide your crazy from me."

"No, Buffy, your mother and I didn't start dating until after we found out that she was carrying my baby."

The smile crawls off Buffy's face. "So this is convenience?" she asks.

"No," he smiles. "I don't know what it is yet, but it's real," he tells her.

"You don't have to sneak around, Giles. I don't want to be something that gets between you and my mother."

"Let me assure you Buffy. You are never going to be a reason that this relationship goes _slower._ You are the closest thing I have to a daughter, and that makes the fact that I'm with your mother even easier."

"So do we hug now?" Buffy asks.

"I'm uncertain," Giles replies.

"Let's try it," she offers.

After a few seconds of embrace, they both pull away. "So we're not hugy people, that's ok," Buffy says.

"It's the thought that counts," Giles says. He quickly opens up the door and starts heading down the hallway. Then…he pauses. Now that Buffy knows about the two of them there is really no reason why he shouldn't spend the night. Or at least no reason so long as Joyce is ok with it.

He opens the door to her bedroom, and she rolls over to look at him. "Did you forget something?" she asks in a tired sounding voice.

He closes the door. "Buffy ran into me on my way out. Well, actually she tackled me."

"Did you get hurt?" Joyce asks sitting up and obviously prepared to start applying bandages. What a hell must it be to live with a slayer when you aren't in the inner circle? You have no idea what danger is coming or how big it is. All that you can do is repair the damage after it happens.

"I'm fine, but she knows that we're together," he says.

"How did she take it?" Joyce asks with a worry wrinkle creasing her forehead. He's never seen the wrinkle on her before, but it's old and deep like it's gotten lots of exercise.

"She's rather taken with the idea, actually," he says pushing up his glasses.

Joyce blinks at him.

"I figured since we didn't need to sneak around anymore, I would spend the night. Of course, if you'd rather I didn't…" he says quickly.

She taps the bed beside her, and he begins to undress.

"Sex with Rupert was very different than sex with Ripper," she acknowledges.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"What? Oh, you're misunderstanding me. The time with Ripper was exciting, but that was mostly about breaking the law, and being in public. To be honest it was all a little quick to be completely satisfactory," she says, causing a blush to come onto Giles's cheeks. "Tonight was very different. It was slow, and soulful, and a whole lot more like making love than having sex."

He catches her eye trying to figure out if she meant the part about love as something more than a compliment to his bedroom skills. He wonders if she's "there" yet, because he isn't, not yet. But if he has to, he'll lie to her for a while, because he's pretty sure he'll get to "love" eventually.

"Thank you," he murmurs, slipping between the sheets.

"Would you rather have young Joyce?" she asks.

"God, no!" he says, and she raises her eyebrows.

"When I'm around her I do stupid things like steal and beat up cops just to impress her. Older…err…less immature Joyce," he says, carefully checking his words, "Is a lot easier to impress. All I have to do is treat her with the respect that she deserves," he says, whisking away hair away from her face as he lies facing her.

"Rupert, sometimes I think about what would have happened if I had never gotten pregnant," she muses.

"Then we both would have missed out on something pretty awesome. Well, two somethings," he says, moving a hand to her stomach. "Us, and this baby."

She scoots forward, and cuddles into his chest. He scoots an arm around her to get comfortable, and they drift off to sleep together.


	5. Waffles and Groceries

"Buffy," a voice calls to her. Buffy leaps out of bed and tackles the intruder.

"I take it that your mother doesn't wake you up in the morning," Giles says from underneath her.

"No, sorry," she says, moving to let him up. "The sun isn't even up yet. Who gets up before the sun?"

"I am suddenly understanding why your tardies increase in the winter months. See, through the magic of astronomy the sun gets up later and goes to bed earlier in the winter," he explains as if he is talking to a toddler.

Buffy squints at the clock. "I don't need to get up this early."

"How else are you going to eat breakfast?" he asks.

"I usually don't have time for it," she says.

"It's the most important meal of the day. You go get ready, and I'll start breakfast."

-A half hour later-

When Buffy comes downstairs she hears "bloody!". When she enters the kitchen Giles is already mid rant, and he just increases the volume a bit so she can enjoy it. "Where you aware that there is no food in this house? How are the two of you not dead? There is nothing to cook! How can you fight vampires without proper nutrition? How is my son supposed to grow a brain when he gets nothing but this rubbish?"

"You made waffles," Buffy points out.

"Do you know how many food groups that covers? One! If I had some fruit to pour over them we'd at least be at two, but do you have any fruit?"

"I'm guessing no?" Buffy says, flopping a waffle on a plate and sitting down at the bar to pour syrup all over it.

"Do you have any eggs, or sausage, or bread for toast, or pudding or beans?"

"Whoa, beans and pudding for breakfast?" Buffy asks with her eyebrows raised.

"Well, that part might just be English, but you still need more than one food group," he says.

"One is more than zero," she points out with her mouth full.

"Quite," he says as he pulls another waffle off the waffle iron.

"Thanks, by the way, for making me breakfast," she says.

He nods.

"And mom does make me breakfast sometimes. There is fresh squeezed orange juice and everything. It's just not all the time, mostly, because I hardly eat it when she does it. You know, it's kind of depressing to cook for yourself."

Buffy realizes that Giles no doubt cooks for himself pretty much every morning, except for this one. "I'm sorry, Giles."

"It's ok, it is different cooking for yourself than others."

"You're still shocked at what we have for breakfast."

"I've had my share of late night dinners from a microwave in the library. I don't suppose they are really much different. What does your mom like on her waffle?"

"She's not even out of bed yet," Buffy says absently.

"I know. I am going to bring her some in her bed. Does she like butter and syrup or just one or the other?"

"Both," Buffy says, smiling at him. She can't believe that there is a man in her house brining her mom breakfast in bed after a romantic encounter, and she has absolutely no desire whatsoever to beat the crap out of him.

"Are you ready for breakfast?" Giles asks Joyce as he enters her bedroom.

"Wow, thanks," she says. Then she glances at the clock. "Oh my gosh, I slept in. You've got to make sure Buffy gets up! I know she likes to wake up to her alarm, and that is great when it works, but a lot of the time she doesn't actually get up when it goes off. So you have to wake her up. You have to do it from the other side of the door though, because…."

"…Slayers don't like surprises. While I appreciate the advice, it's a little late. I already got Buffy up, body tackle and all. She's ready for the day, and eating her waffle downstairs. I wanted to ask if you were ok with me giving her a ride to school."

"Of course," she says, taking a bite of her waffle.

"I just don't want to overstep my bounds," he says softly.

"Oh, it's not likely you are going to do that."

"In that case, do you mind if I do some grocery shopping for your house?" he asks with a pleading voice.

"I swear I eat healthier than my fridge looks like I do. I have salad or fruit with my lunch every day. I just don't get a lot of time to cook at home," she rushes on.

"I just want to take care of you," he says, looking at her stomach.

"I get it. You're worried about your baby's health. It's just, honestly, no matter how much good food you have in the fridge, it doesn't mean that I'm going to start actually cooking it."

Giles pauses awkwardly, unsure where to make the conversation go from here.

"And that speech before was all about you offering to be around more and take care of the baby, and me. I was hearing it as a literal shopping run," she says bashfully.

"It was forward of me," he says, standing up to leave.

"Giles, make sure you get milk. The baby has been craving milk," she says.

He leans over the bed to give her a quick kiss before returning downstairs.

-Later-

"So what's going on?" Willow asks conspiratorially while falling into step next to Buffy shortly after she climbs out of Giles's car at school.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asks, as Giles gets asked a question by another teacher and walks off to answer it.

"I mean, Giles dropped you off at school, does this mean the world is ending?" Willow presses.

"No, it just means that he spent the night at my house last night, and so it was convenient for him to take me to school today."

"He spent the night?" Willow asks in awe.

"Whoa, who spent the night?" Xander asks, joining the group. "Please tell me that Angel wasn't in your bedroom again. You don't want to do any evil hanky panky."

"Not, Angel, Giles," Buffy says.

"What?" Xander exclaims with saucer shaped eyes.

"He was with her mom," Willow tells him. Then she turns to Buffy. "He was there with your mom, right?"

"Ah, duh," Buffy says.

"I knew they were having a baby, because of that whole mystical chocolate deal. I just didn't realize that they were together."

"Neither did I until last night. Apparently it started after the whole oops we made a baby thing, but…" She shrugs her shoulders.

"So, Giles is going to be your step-dad," Willow says.

"I don't think it's anywhere near that point yet," Buffy says.

"Still, he's dating your mom. How do you feel about that?" Willow asks.

Buffy just smiles.

"I'm still having trouble with the idea of Giles spending the night over at anyone's house," Xander says.

"Oh come on, he is a grown-up," Willow protests.

"I know, that's the point. He's old. The romantic part of his life should be done with," Xander continues.

"I think it's sweet to think that people can fall in love when they are that old," Buffy says.

-That Afternoon-

"Are we still training tonight?" Buffy asks, sticking her head into the library.

"Of course, unless there are circumstances I don't know about," Giles replies.

"I just meant, now that you and my mother's relationship is out in the open, if you had a date planned or something," she prompts.

"We've been scheduling dates around my other responsibilities for months. I don't see any reason to change that now," he says.

"Oh," Buffy says, obviously disappointed and offended.

"I would have thought you would be relieved that my relationship with your mother isn't changing my relationship with you," he says, tossing her a sword and getting into position for the two of them to begin to spar.

"I guess. It's just…yesterday was the first time that you were together, together, right? So I thought you might do something today."

When he looks into her eyes he sees the same look she had when he first found out that Angle had gone bad. That fear and guilt all mixed together.

Giles's heart breaks for her. She's young to be carrying around this much emotional damage. "Buffy, not all men are Angel. We don't all turn evil when we spend a night with a women. Your mother and I are fine."

"How do you know that if you don't see her?" Buffy says, attacking with a bit more force than necessary. Giles uses that force to push her out of balance.

"That's what she told me when I talked to her on the phone during my lunch break," he says as he give her an easy to move block.

Buffy grins. "You talked to her? Today?"

Giles nods, and gives the girl a half serious jab which the slayer has serious trouble defending, even though it is something that on a good day she could take care of with two hands tied behind her back (he's seen her do it).

"So how serious are you guys?" Buffy says with a move almost worthy of a slayer, if it were the slayer's first day of training at least.

"It's still early, Buffy, but neither of us would be in this relationship if we didn't think it had a chance."

"So are you going to get married before the baby comes?" Buffy asks, bouncing on her toes a little bit as she goes in for a move which almost disarms Giles, even if it is mainly from his shock at her question.

"I didn't say that we were getting married at all."

"No, I'm just saying that if you were to get married…" she prompts with a wide smile on her face.

He raises an eyebrow at her.

"I'm just asking if my brother gets a Daddy," she teases.

"He'll have his Daddy," Giles says firmly. "No matter what."

Buffy smiles, and knocks the sword out of his hand.

-A month later, during Consequences-

Buffy knows that she should have told Giles sooner. When there is a murder during slayer duty, you tell your watcher. It's probably in the manual that she never read, like on page one, in bold print, maybe even with underlines.

She was just terrified of what would happen, to her, to Faith, if she did that. More than that, she just really doesn't want to disappoint Giles.

She's seen enough of those looks he gets in her lifetime, and she can't imagine what they would look like magnified by…murder.

Then she walks into the library to tell him everything, and she sees Faith walking out.

Her stomach does a crazy amount of flip flops, and she goes more than a little bit numb. She looks up into Giles's eyes, and she sees a look, but it isn't exactly the look that she was expecting. It's similar, and there is definitely some disappointment in it, but it's not like any look she's ever gotten from him before.

Then she realizes why. Most of his disappointed looks are when he's really disappointed, and he's trying to look like he's not. This one is the opposite.

Faith walks out of the door, and Buffy follows Giles into his office. The words start spilling out of her mouth, and she's trying to tell him that she didn't do it. She is trying to tell him that it was all Faith. She is trying to find a way to do these things that doesn't sound all fake, and way too late.

Then he says, "I know," and everything is better.

He knows her. He believes in her, and he would never believe those lies.

She starts crying, and he pulls her into a hug. These hugs between the two of them are becoming not only less awkward but a whole lot more frequent. "It's ok, we're going to make everything ok," he tells her, rubbing her back.

She doesn't doubt him. She doesn't even worry about the specifics. She just knows that it will be ok. *


	6. Parenting

-Two Weeks Later-

"Buffy, your dad is here!" Giles says as the doorbell rings.

"I am not ready!" a voice calls from the top of the stairs.

"Right, because why would you ever be on time for anything in your entire life?" Giles mutters as he goes to the door.

Hank is standing on the other side looking confused. He offers no word of greeting, and doesn't ask any questions even though quite a few of them are fighting in his mind.

"Buffy will be right down," Giles tells him. "Come on in, do you want a cuppa? Sorry, I mean tea, Buffy keeps telling me to just offer tea. Or breakfast? We have sausage and beans. I used to try to make a proper fry up, but I was told that was over the top."

"No thanks, I'm fine," Hank says, taking a few steps into the living room at the invite of Giles but standing there looking confused and almost scared.

Buffy races down the stairs. "Ok, I'm ready."

"Toothbrush?" Giles asks.

"Right!" Buffy says, running back up the stairs.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Hank finally asks.

"I'm Mr. Giles. We met at Buffy's school once," he says, putting out his hand.

"Right, the librarian. You are Buffy's favorite _teacher,"_ Hank says stressing the last word in a way that Giles doesn't immediately make sense of.

"Bye, Giles!" Buffy says, giving him a quick hug as she hands her father her overnight bag.

"Have a good weekend," he says, wrapping his arms around her.

"Am I just not supposed to comment on this?" Hank says all of a sudden.

"What?" Buffy asks.

"Your teacher is in your house at seven o'clock in the morning," Hank says angrily. "Not to mention the touching!"

"Whoa, it was a hug. Don't be gross," Buffy says, scooting away from Giles.

Giles takes off his glasses and cleans them. "I'm here for Joyce."

"Oh," Hank says with his eyebrows raising. "So then you're the…"

"Father of her baby, yes," Giles says, replacing his glasses.

"I'm so sorry for the accusation," he says.

"Don't be. If I was dating your daughter you would be perfectly within your rights. In fact, I'd think the less of you if you didn't do something. Besides, we both know that Buffy does like older men."

"What?" Hank says, turning to his daughter.

"Thanks a lot, Giles," Buffy mutters. Then she aims a disarming smile at her father. "It was a joke."

"How much older is he?" Hank asks, not buying the lie.

"A little older," Buffy says.

Giles snorts.

"Do you approve of this guy?" Hank asks him.

Giles's face goes serious, and he doesn't know how to answer. "He's a good man, and he treats Buffy right."

"Thanks for looking out for my little girl," Hank says, extending his empty hand for a shake.

"Any time," Giles says.

Giles watches them walk down the driveway and hears Hank ask his daughter, "So how do you feel about your mom having your teacher's baby?"

"It's complicated," Buffy says.

-Two Weeks Later, During "Earshot"-

Before she learned how to read minds, Buffy never realized how often people lied to her. Giles lied to her a lot. But when he did, it was always to protect her.

"If we don't fix this, she'll go insane," he thinks. He can't look at her after he thinks it. He knows she knows, but he doesn't even want to think about it.

-Later-

Neither her mother nor Giles talk about love. They don't talk about marriage, but they certainly do a lot of thinking about it. When they are around her they try to think of anything else. They are embarrassed. She thinks about telling them that the other one is thinking about the same thing. But the words get caught her mouth. She can't make her mind quiet long enough to say them.

-Later-

The thoughts are so jumbled together that she can't make one of them out from the other. Suddenly, one breaks through. It's a thought that is shared by both of the people looking over her. She can't remember who they are just now, because all the voices are so confused that she has no idea who belongs to who. She does know that one of them is cleaning his glasses, the other one is going to be fat because she ate chocolate.

She knows that they both love her, a lot. For a few seconds she is able to laser in on the thought, and it makes the pain ease, for a little while.

-One week later During "Choices"-

Her mother was excited when she got into Northwestern, but as soon as it happened, all Buffy could think about was what Giles was going to look like when she told him.

The look is everything she hoped for. A single second, and it is full of more pride in accomplishment than she got from her father for a long time.

She wants to go away. She wants to prove to Giles that she is more than just a good slayer. He keeps saying that with this baby all he wants is an ordinary human kid. The kind of kid who goes off to college after acing their SATs. Someone you can brag to the other parents about.

Not someone who kills vampires, and you have to hide all their talents from anyone else.

If she can't go away…then all she will ever be is a slayer.

-The Next Day-

She doesn't want to tell him. She knows the choice she has to make. It's the only responsible choice. She's told her mother, and endured the look of quiet sadness. She's told Will, and found out that she won't be the only one staying at Sunnydale for college.

She just doesn't want to tell Giles. She enters the library, and his face lights up at the sight of her. How can she do this to him?

"Giles, I've decided not to go away to college."

His brow furrows. "You're not going to go to college?"

"No, I am. I'm just going to go to Sunnydale," she says.

Relief crosses his face. Relief, but not surprise.

"How come you aren't surprised by this?" she asks him.

"I knew you'd never leave. You couldn't leave people in danger, not even for a reason as good as a great education."

"I really want to go," she says, sounding whinny even in her own ears.

"I know," he says, taking a step toward her. She knows that they are nearing their classic hug sequence, and she isn't quite ready for that yet.

"I wanted you to be proud of me."

"What? I _am_ proud of you. I can't imagine being _more_ proud of you. You've earned this bright, shiny future, and you're giving it up, for the good of the world. It's a beautiful sacrifice, and what could make me more proud than that?"

She is ready for that hug now.

-One week Later, During "Prom"

Buffy walks into the house to see Giles sitting in a chair waiting for her.

"Where were you?" he asks.

"Patrol."

"Patrol? All night? You were on patrol all night?" he demands.

"I might have taken a short nap."

"A nap? You just went to sleep outside? Do you even understand how dangerous that is? You can't be making slip-ups like that. They could result in your dying!" he exclaims.

"I wasn't out in the open. I fell asleep at Angel's," she says.

"Well, that's a whole other kind of stupid," Giles says.

"Nothing happened."

"No, you just slept in the bed of a man who could turn evil if you ever slept with him. I would expect better from Angel."

"Giles, we understand that we can't have sex. That doesn't mean that we can't do _some_ normal couple things."

"Buffy, you are playing with fire. I can't let you do this."

"What right do you have to tell me what I can and cannot do?" Buffy shouts as she runs upstairs to her room.

-Later that Day-

"Buffy, how about some lunch?" Giles asks, knocking on her door. He doesn't get a response, so he just pushes his way into the room. She's curled up on the bed, facing away from him. At first he thinks she catching up on whatever sleep she didn't get at Angel's and he's going to leave. Then he hears a sniffle that lets him know that she is crying.

He walks over, and sits down next to the bed. "I'm sorry, I don't think I handled that right. I'm not good at the parenting thing."

"I don't think I've very good at being parented," she says. "I'm not used to this whole parent in the house every night thing, asking you if you did your homework, or when you are going to be home, or if you've brushed your teeth. Now for months I've had two. It's an adjustment."

"Yeah, having parents around doesn't just mean someone to make you breakfast, and smile at you when you've done a good job. It means someone to ask you questions that you don't want to answer, give you orders, and tell you when they think you are making bad life choices."

Buffy rolls her eyes.

"But I don't have to do this with you. Buffy, I'm not your father. I've been acting like it, because…because I love you. Because I thought you wanted me to be a father. But hey, you have a father, and you're eighteen. So if you want the two of us to act like roommates, I'll be ok with that."

"I don't want that."

"Then you've got to take the bad with the good."

Buffy nods. "Even though I'm too old for a dad?" she asks.

"That is impossible. I'm not even too old for a dad," he says.

"You never talk about your parents," she says. Both sets of Buffy's grandparents died when she was just a baby, and she wouldn't be opposed to getting some new ones. "I mean, I know they were Watchers."

"Well, my father was, and his mother before him. They weren't ever in charge of Slayers though. They are very theoretical, very into the books."

"How did they handle your Ripper days? Probably a lot better than I did."

"There were a lot of empty threats, a few protection spells, and disapproving looks that would have withered a lesser being."

She smiles.

"They're planning a visit over the summer holidays."

"To meet the baby," Buffy says.

"To meet my family," Giles says, smiling at her.

Buffy asks the question that she's wondered for a long time. A question she's never voiced to anyone but Will before. "Did my dad leave…because of me?"

"No," Giles says quickly without having to think about it.

"How do I know? I mean, I am the Slayer. My dad took off right when I was starting to get in trouble all of the time."

"I know because a real dad loves his kid no matter what. She could destroy the entire universe, and he wouldn't leave her. So if your dad did leave because you were in trouble, it wasn't your fault. It was because there was something broken inside of him," Giles says.

Buffy feels like all the oxygen in her body was suddenly replaced with some sort of a warm bubbly substitute. "That's what you are offering?"

He nods his head. "It does come with a fair amount of nagging."

"I don't think my parents ever did much of that. I mean, they weren't really around enough for that. They didn't even notice when I started to slay. When we first moved to Sunnydale, mom tried, like really tried. She read all these parenting books, and said all these phrases. She'd even punish me. It just…wasn't like when today when I stayed at Angel's all night. She didn't look at me as if she pitied me, and feared for me, and… that is new for me. I'm not sure that I'm going to start liking it real soon."

"Well, if you stop spending the night at the lair of 250 year old undead beings, I won't have to break out my disappointed look anytime soon," he says, allowing the tension of the moment to break with a giggle.

-One Week Later-

"Giles! Are you here? You were supposed to come back to the school after mom's doctor appointment. We were going to train after school," she calls.

He comes out of her mom's bedroom looking grave.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asks, somewhat panicked and trying to push past him.

"Your mom is sleeping. Everything is fine," he assures her.

"That sounds like one of those lies you tell," she says. "You found out something scary at the doctor's appointment, didn't you?"

"Your mom has preeclampsia. It's pretty common, especially in woman who have a baby at her age. It really is going to be all right. She's on bed rest, but the danger is really minimal."

"Really?" she asks.

He nods.

"Bedrest? So she's like not allowed out of the bed at all? That's worse then being in prison."

Giles smiles. "I probably wouldn't present it like that to her after she wakes up," he says.

"Thanks for looking after her until I came home. I've got it now," Buffy says.

"Buffy, I'm moving in," he says.

"I can take care of my mother," she says defensively.

He smiles at her. "I know you can. But it's my baby, and my…Joyce. I want to be the one that takes care of her."

Buffy nods.

"Besides, I think it was about time for this anyway," he adds.

"Really?" Buffy asks, smiling.

"Yes, you don't mind my moving in, do you?" he asks her.

"Do you need help moving in?"

"I won't move most of the things until this weekend. I have enough here already until then. I would love your help."

"Maybe we can get the whole Scooby gang involved, unless it's a family thing," she says.

"Are you implying that the Scooby gang isn't family?" he asks.

"Giles, I'm ready for the soup you offered now." Joyce's voice drifts in from the room.


	7. Opening Scene

-A Month Later-

"I can't wait for this baby to be born," Joyce says shifting in the bed.

"Let's hope it stays in that belly of yours for a couple more months," Giles says laying in the bed next to her. It's a habit that he has picked up to sit next to her in bed for a while each day after he comes home from work. She has just spent the whole day at home alone, and he wants to give her some company before he cooks dinner or trains Buffy.

"I know, it's just four months of bed rest is a big ask," she complains.

"It seems like a pretty small trade-off for our baby's survival to me," he says.

"You make me sound like a jerk," she complains.

"Sorry," he laughs. "I'm not the one that has to sit in a bed for the whole day."

He reaches over, and puts a hand on her stomach.

"Anything interesting happen today?" she asks.

"I read a book on middle ages warlock lore," he says.

"Let's discuss the meaning of the world interesting," she says.

"I'm sorry, I wish I lead some interesting life, and I could regale you with at the end of each day. Perhaps this would help," he says pulling a box out of his pocket.

"Giles," she breaths.

"Joyce, I love you, and…" she reaches out a puts a hand on his arm to stop him.

His heart nearly stops beating as he waits for her to speak.

"Giles, I love you too. I am so sorry, that I am saying no. We've only known each other for a few months, and for a big chunk of that time you were waiting on my hand and foot when I was in bed."

"I don't mind. Our baby needed…" he starts.

"I know," she says with a smile, "It's just not time to talk about marriage yet. I want us to get to know each other more, when I'm not pregnant. I had one marriage end in divorce. I'm not going to enter into another marriage until I am 100% sure it's not going to go down the same way."

"It would be nice to get married before the baby comes," Giles points out.

"Yes it would, but I don't exactly plan on getting married from my bedroom, so that's not really an option," Joyce points out.

"Ok, well, we could get engaged before the baby comes then," Giles says.

"This baby isn't a good enough reason to get married," Joyce says.

"I have better reasons, they are just a little bit hard to share after you've already said no," he says.

"I'm so sorry Giles. I'm pretty sure that I'll say yes sometime. I just… not right now. Having a baby together, living together, that is a lot, and it's going to have to be enough for right now," Joyce says.

"Ok, maybe I'll just keep this then?" he asks hopefully.

She nods her head, and he slips it into the drawer beside them.

"At least you kept this from being another boring day on bedrest," she says.

-Two Months Later-

"Are you ok?" Buffy asks her mother as she sits on the edge of the bed.

"Of course," her mother says in the false cheerful voice that Buffy usually only has the pleasure of hearing when her mother is talking about her slaying.

"'Cause you are making that squinty face that usually either means you are on the phone with dad or that you have a headache," Buffy points out.

"You have a headache? Isn't that one of the signs that your preeclampsia is turning into eclampsia?" Giles asks with concern.

"It could be, but I think in this case it is a lot more likely that I just have a headache. I have had it all day, and nothing bad has happened so far. I'm fine." she says waving off his concern.

He maneuvers himself part way behind her, and begins to rub her temples so hard that it's painful, but also feels good. She moans, and leans against him.

"I'll leave you guys alone to be gross," Buffy says turning to walk out of the room. Then she hears a weird sound, like a wounded deer, and she turns back. Her mother is shaking in Giles's arms.

"What did you do?" she shouts at him.

"It's not me Buffy. She's having a seizure. We have to get her to the hospital," Giles says, and Buffy doesn't miss the second that he lets terror show on his face before he manages to hide it.

"Should I just pick her up?" Buffy asks.

"What else is slayer strength for?" Giles asks again trying to mask his terror.

Even with Slayer strength, Buffy isn't quite sure how to carry her mother. At eight months pregnant her mother is bulky. Buffy tries three or four grips before Giles urges, "We need to move."

Then she throws her mother over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The stomach that is her baby brother rests uncomfortably on her chest, but she doesn't really care. All she cares about is making sure that her mother's seizing body doesn't hit anything as she runs downstairs.

Giles fumbles with the car keys and Buffy lays her mother in the back seat.

"Are you ok to drive?" Buffy asks him.

"It will be faster than the ambulance," he replies not really answering her question.

She closes the door to the backseat of the car, and opens the front seat.

"You have to sit back there with her," Giles says with a voice that is pleading.

"There isn't any room," Buffy says looking at her mother laying across the back seat.

"Find a spot," Giles says.

Buffy gets in the other car door, and crotches half on the seat of the car, and half off near her mother's head.

The seizure stops, and Joyce looks at Buffy confused. She opens her mouth but no words come out.

"You're ok," Buffy says calmly.

"Alastair?" Joyce asks looking at her confused.

"He's going to be fine," she tells him knowing that that is the name that they have picked out for her brother.

"Where is he?" Joyce asks.

"He's not born yet," Buffy says.

Joyce reaches down and touches her stomach. She seems to calm down. You can tell by her facial expression that the world is making more and more sense to her each second that passes. The fog that the seizure caused to cloud her mind has passed, "What happened to me?"

"You started shaking," Buffy says.

"A seizure," Giles says from the front seat.

"We have to go to the hospital, it's a symptom of eclampsia," Joyce says.

"We're on our way," Buffy says.

"Rupert, I hope you're not obeying traffic laws."

"This baby was conceived while breaking the law; I guess it can be born while we do it too," he responds.

In a few minutes they pull up in front of Sunnydale hospital, and wheelchairs, and nurses help her inside. They wheel her away.

"Where are you talking her?" Buffy asks a nurse.

"I'm sorry, you are going to have to wait out here," is the only response she gets.

"No, she's my mother!" Buffy demands.

Giles puts a hand on her arm.

"We have to make sure that she is ok," Buffy says turning toward him.

"I know, Buffy. We did everything we can. We got her here. She is going to be ok. We just have to let them do their jobs."

"Is she going to be ok?" Buffy asks him.

"Probably," he tells her pulling her into a hug.

"Are you the family of Joyce Summers?" a doctor asks walking toward them.

"Yes, I'm her daughter," Buffy says quickly rushing toward the woman.

"We are going to have to deliver the baby C-section," the doctor presses on.

"You can't, the baby isn't supposed to be born for another month," Buffy argues.

Giles puts a hand on her arm, "Can I go into the room with her?"

"You're the father?" the doctor asks.

"Yes," he says.

"She requested you," the doctor says, "Come on you've got to scrub up."

"Buffy, I'm sorry to leave you. Call Willow or Xander to say with you," he tells her giving her hand a quick squeeze as he follows the doctor.

-Later-

Allister looks like he appeared in his father's vision, minus the chubby cheeks. He was born a little premature, and so there was a good chance the chub would come later. He had a smile on his face from the second that he was born though, so much smile that he didn't have time to cry.

"What's wrong?" Joyce says worriedly.

"Nothing is wrong. He's here, and he's perfect," Giles assures her lifting the baby closer so she can see. "Hold him," Giles urges.

Joyce shakes her head, "As much as I would love to hold my son, I'm going to wait a couple of hours. I want to be certain I won't have a seizure while holding our son," she tells him.

-Later-

"You're a big sister," Giles says coming out into the waiting room. Willow must have made it to the hospital in record time, and gives her friend's hand a squeeze. Xander's house is a bit father away, but Buffy called him too.

"How is mom?" she asks quickly standing to go toward him.

"She's fine. She hasn't had another seizure. They had to take the baby out early, because it wasn't safe for either of them. She's going to get better now though. We just have to give it a little time for her blood pressure to normalize," Giles explains.

"Allister is going to be all right though? I mean, he's got to be tiny."

"He's kind of big for his how premature he is," Maybe he knew that he had to grow up really fast," Giles says.

"I did a spell. I'm not saying that is the reason why the baby is all right," Willow rushes on, "I meant to sound like when people say they are praying for you. Only this is a little bit more practical."

"We appreciate it, Willow," Giles says giving her a smile. He turns to Buffy, "Your mom is sleeping right now, but if you want to come meet your little brother you could."

Buffy stands up, and follows him into the room. When she gets there she can't believe how tiny he is. "You're sure he's ok?" she asks.

Giles smiles, and wraps his arm around her. "He's perfect."

Buffy looks up at Giles as he stares at his son through the glass of the nursery. She's never seen a look like that before. Not in her whole life has she seen someone look at another being with such intensity, such devotion, such love.

He turns to her to grin, a boasting sort of grin, and the look falls on her for a couple of seconds. Even by accident, even vicariously she enjoys the thrill of the warm look.


	8. A Proper Fry Up

-A week Later-

Giles brings Joyce breakfast in bed nearly every morning, and she can't help but feel a little guilty about it.

"You know you don't have to keep doing this now that I'm not on bedrest," Joyce points out.

Giles looks worried. "You're still going to need help though. You're recovering from a C-section and there is a brand new baby.

"Of course, I'm just saying that you don't have to wait on me hand and foot anymore," Joyce tells him with a smile.

"Ok," he nods. "But I want to."

He looks worried, and she finds that she can't put her finger on it. "Giles? What are you scared of?" she asks with more blunt courage than she displayed during the entire course of her first marriage.

"I moved in to help you because of your bedrest," he says.

"You want to move out?" she asks.

"No. I don't want to go back to my apartment all alone. Not when you, and Buffy, and Alec are here," he tells her.

"Good, because I don't want you to either," she says with the air of it all being decided now.

He flashes a relieved smile.

"I honestly don't know what I would do without you these past months, and I'm going to need you even more in the months to come. I hope you don't think that bedrest and a newborn are the only reasons I want you around though."

"I don't," he says.

"Good, so maybe we should get rid of your apartment," she says.

He gapes at her.

"I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing to say. It's _your_ apartment. I don't really have any say in what happens to it."

"You're saying this is probably permanent?" he asks.

"I think so, how about you?" she asks, searching his eyes.

"Definitely," he tells her.

-A Week Later-

"How should I greet them? Like 'ello go'vner?" Buffy asks.

Giles quirks his eyebrow at her. "Since they aren't Cockneys in an 1800's musical, probably not."

"Isn't that British?" she asks.

"Do you honestly think that is what I sound like?" he asks.

"Kind of?" she says with a question in her voice.

He shakes his head.

"It's not like we're hiding the fact that we are Americans dear, act like you normally would," Joyce tells her, shifting the baby as he starts to whimper.

An old couple walk off the plane. Jasper is leaning heavily on a cane. His wife, Matilda, holds on to his elbow in such a way that it is ambiguous whether she is lending or receiving support.

When she sees her son she lets go of her husband in order to walk over to her son. She puts her hands on either cheek and says, "Ruppie."

He grins.

"When are you going to marry that girl?" she asks next.

"Good to see you, Mum," he says, not answering the question.

"I see what you mean about inheriting that stern look from your parents," Buffy says.

"Well, I can be sure that you never did anything to deserve that look from my boy!" Matilda says, turning to the teenager and wrapping her in a hug.

By now Jasper has made his way up to his son. They don't hug, or even touch. They just give each other a sort of nod which conveys a lot more affection than the average hug. Then Jasper's sharp eyes turns to Buffy. She hasn't felt like this since the SATs. Anxious, but at least partly with the older meaning of the word that Giles had drilled into her head right before the test: excited. She feels like this sizing up is a chance to prove herself, and she stands up a little bit straighter to show herself in the best possible light.

Matilda has by this point moved on to Joyce. "Come here, honey," she says. At the end of the hug her grandson is in her arms, and she is cooing over him even though no one can quite identify when the transition happened.

"You know Rupert proposed to me," Joyce says.

"What?" Buffy says with her mouth falling open at her mother's words.

"Twice actually," Joyce adds.

Here Jasper puts a quick hand on his son's shoulder by way of sympathy. Matilda is a bit more obvious in her approval. "That's all right, son. Don't be discouraged. She'll come 'round before too long."

"You proposed to my mother, and you never even bothered telling me?" Buffy asks Giles incredulously.

"Oh honey, the first time he was just doing it because he thought that is what he was supposed to do. It was the night of your birthday. He didn't even want me to say yes."

"That's not true," Giles starts to protest, but at a glare from Joyce he stops. She _was_ telling the truth about him not wanting her to say yes, that night at least.

"Ok, I still feel like I should have known, and what about the second time?" Buffy asks.

"That was a bit more recent, and a lot more serious. I didn't want to get married when I was on bedrest," Joyce says.

"You are not on bedrest right now," her want-to-be-mother-in-law says with a grin.

"Mother, leave it alone," Giles warns.

"Did you see this little Watcher?" Matilda asks, holding the baby up for her husband's approval, although she obviously has no intention of handing him over to him.

"He's not necessarily going to be a watcher," Giles points out.

"Of course he is, all Gileses are Watchers," Matilda says.

"He's going to be able to choose his own path," Giles says in a firm voice.

"I would think you'd understand destiny. What with the way you've turned the Slayer into your daughter," Jasper says in a deep and calming voice as he levels his eyes upon his son.

"I understand destiny, and I know that it's the thing that falls on your lap when you are chasing after some prophecy or something that you are sure is 'meant' to happen. All of the good things in my life have been surprises," Giles says.

"Getting a Slayer wasn't a surprise," Matilda points out.

For a second Buffy panics, thinking that Giles might not have meant to include her on the list of good things in his life. Then he smiles and says, "Yes, getting a Slayer was always part of my life plan. But Buffy wasn't exactly the Slayer that I was expecting. She was the part that was a surprise."

Jasper gets his answer in these words, and flashes Buffy a smile which never quite reaches beyond his eyes, but stays there in a deep crinkle.

He turns the piercing things upon the older of the Summees woman now, and Giles suddenly finds himself wishing he hadn't complained about her to his parents in phone calls after he'd first met Buffy. He'd complained about Buffy then too, when he was still under the impression that she was little more than a stupid cheerleader. He hoped that his father realized that his opinions of both of them had grown a great deal since then.

Alastair starts to fuss, and Joyce moves to take him back. In her own family, there would have been no question of returning a fussing baby to its mother.

Instead, the infant is placed in the arms of his grandfather who promptly pulls a face so grotesque it's hard not to question whether or not there is a bit of demon in the family line.

Alastair instantly quiets.

"Dad has one of those faces that babies trust," Giles explains.

"Well, we should probably get your luggage, and get you settled in," Joyce says cheerfully.

-The next morning-

For the first time since moving to America, Giles cooks a good and proper fry up. Buffy had been right about it being depressing to cook for only one person, and even after he had begun cooking for three, one or two items was all he would make in an average morning. You really needed the excuse of guests to go over the top.

Besides, neither of the Americans he lived with were willing to eat tomatoes, mushrooms, and beans for breakfast, or any kind of blood pudding at any hour of the day under even the most desperate of circumstances.

"You would think someone who fought vampires wouldn't want to pretend to _be_ one!" Buffy had said with horror when she had first found out what was in black pudding.

"It's not human blood," Giles had defended.

"Not all vampires eat human blood," Buffy had replied, thinking of her boyfriend.

The meal fills a whole in Buffy that she had thought was already filled. When she was a child she'd longed for a nice normal family. The sort of family who ate dinner together, and played Frisbee in the back yard on a Saturday afternoon.

What she'd gotten was a family that worried about their jobs, and hired someone to play Frisbee with you.

When Giles had entered her life she'd suddenly had someone to spar with, and ask if her homework was done, and more often than either of them would like to admit, eat a pizza with as they researched some demon with her friends in his library.

Then, he'd become her family, for real, and she'd thought that the longing for family was done. This was so much fuller than even what she had dared to hope for. She had a grandmamma to ask her endless questions (sometimes not even bothering to wait for the answer before rushing on to the next question), and to tell her stories of what Giles was like when he was young (although she got a feeling she was only telling the funny ones, not the ones that had hurt her). She also had a Grandpapa who was radiating more curiosity and approval of her than his wife simply by looking at her.

"So Buffy, what are you going to major in at university?" Matilda asks.

"I'm not really sure. I haven't even figured out what classes I am going to take the first semester," she says.

"Shouldn't you have your enrollment done already? Giles, haven't you ensured that she gets into all of the best classes?" Matilda presses her son.

"I don't know what the best classes are."

"Isn't there someone you could ask? You ought to know other people who have attended the same university!" she exclaims.

"I _meant_ , I'm not really sure what Buffy wants to do. I can't really advise her on the best class to take until I know what field she will be heading into," he says.

"For a person who has so much destiny, your future seems a little uncertain, doesn't it?" Jasper asks with the eye creases that meant joy from him.

"I'm not even sure it really matters what I decide to major in. I mean, I already know what I am going to do with my life, right, so what is the point?" Buffy says hoping that by making eye contact with nothing besides the blood pudding that Giles' parents brought from England she will be able to avoid them figuring out how much that bothers her.

"There was a slayer who was a lawyer," Jasper says.

"One who was a mother too," Matilda points out.

"There was the one who was a professional boxer, but you have to agree that that is kind of taking unfair advantage of the situation," Jasper says.

"That one wasn't a very good slayer, either," Matilda points out.

"The point is, you should pick something that you really want to do with your life. Something above and beyond the slaying," Matilda points out to her.

"I just don't have any idea," Buffy says, suddenly feeling like she is letting a room full of people down.  
Giles stands up to get a kettle of tea that was whistling for attention. Before he sits back down he pauses to rest a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "The first part of college is all about figuring out what you want to do with your life. I'll sit down with Buffy later today, and help her decide what courses she would like to take."

"I hope it's still early enough for early registration," Matilda frets.

"I've got to be going to work," Joyce says standing up, even though her breakfast is only half eaten. Giles gives her a quick kiss as she hands him their son, and rushes out the door.

"Do you take care of Alec often?" his mother enquires.

"It just makes sense this way," Giles says, hoping that they would drop the subject. No such luck.

"It makes sense, because you don't have a job right now," his mother says with a nod of her head.

"Yeah, but that's only because he blew up the school," Buffy says rushing to defend him before she realizes that her words are not exactly helping his case. "I mean, he did it to save the world!"

"That was only how he lost one of his jobs. He'd already been fired from his position as Watcher…" Jasper says.

"I was not fired! I quit," Giles quickly protests.

"And he only did that to save me!" Buffy complains.

"There is nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home parent, son, I did it for years myself. I just want to make sure that this really isn't something that you just fell into. I want to make sure that this is something that you choose," Matilda says, softening a bit with affection for her son.

"I don't know about forever," Giles admits. "It is ok for right now."


	9. College Life

Giles has never understood why counting to ten is so magical for some people. He's seen it reduce anger in others, but he's never gotten it to work for himself. He's tried it now, in almost every language he knows, including some pretty obscure demon languages in which every sentence automatically becomes a spell.

He's still not feeling any calmer.

"How about science?" he asks, forcing his voice to sound a lot more cheerful than he feels.

"I don't know, science in high school was hard."

"That was because you only went to half of the classes. I am sure that if you just applied yourself…" he begins.

"Can't you find something easier in there?" she asks, looking at the course book.

"It is not a listing of preschools, Buffy, it is a list of college courses offered!"

"I know, but obviously, some college courses are probably a lot harder than other ones. Just find one of the easier ones."

"You are an intelligent girl, Buffy Summers. If your test scores didn't demonstrate evidence of that your debate with my parents on the nature of good and evil certainly would have! I do not see any reason why you shouldnot be able to do well at more challenging coursework if you were only willing to apply yourself a little."

Buffy is silent for a moment, and Giles considers apologizing to her, but he meant every word that he said, and he can't bear to make himself take any of them back.

"I don't really have a lot of control over whether or not I apply myself do I?" she asks.

"Buffy, you cannot blame the fact that you are the Slayer on all of your scholarly failings," Giles says, not softening in the least.

"No, but some of it is from that. Plus, I've already outlived the average life expectancy of a Slayer. I never really planned for college, because I never really thought that I would be going. At least after I became a Slayer. I never planned for college before that because I was fourteen, and stupid."

"Buffy, you are still alive, so maybe it's time to start planning for a future."

"I still don't see the point. I mean, I might be able to live through college, great. I might even make it half a decade or a decade into my adult life, although the odds aren't with me on that. Let's say that I even get to live to a ripe old Slayer age like 40. So what? Slaying is always going to be more important than my job. I'm never going to be able to have a good job. I mean, look at how much mom works. There is no way that I could ever hold down a job like that and still be the Slayer, and my dad works way more than she does."

"I didn't work that much," he points out.

"Right, but it's not like being a librarian was your real job. It was just something you did so no one would think it creepy that you were a middle aged man hanging out with a teenage girl."

Giles laughs, "That was _not_ why I did it. I actually liked being a librarian, and it payed the bills, and it was something that would leave me a lot of free time for my other important job. Not everyone has jobs that consume their whole lives. That isn't even healthy for someone who isn't the Slayer. It would be disastrous for someone who was. Education is a way to get a good job, Buffy, but not everyone's definition of a good job is the same. For some people it is a job which earns them the most amount of money with the least amount of work."

"So you're saying work hard now so I can slack off later?" she asks.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," he says.

Buffy looks far more glum than she did at the beginning of the conversation, and Giles worries about what he could have said to have this effect on her. "So you're telling me that my parents chose it. I just always thought that working that hard was just a fact of grown-up life, but you're telling me that they could have chosen something different, and didn't."

Giles just looks at her trying to figure out what to say to fix this. To make Buffy feel better. To make it so he hadn't just criticized his girlfriend to her daughter behind her back.

"You're choosing to be with this kid," she says.

"Buffy, I blew up my workplace. I'm happy to be with this kid, but it wasn't really a choice."

"You chose to spend a lot of time with me, I mean back when you had a job. Back when you had two jobs actually," she says.

He nods.

"I don't know what I want to do when I grow up, but I do know who I want to be like."

-Two months later during "The freshman"-

"Are you sure you don't want to live at home for the first year?" Giles asks her as he sets the last box down on the floor.

"Giles, I'm going to college. I want to actually be at college," Buffy whines.

"Ok, I just want to make sure it didn't have anything to do with me."

"You?" she asks in surprise. "You would be a reason to live at the house, not leave it."

"I just thought…mom's new boyfriend, and a baby, might not exactly be things that an eighteen year old wanted to spend a lot of time dealing with," he says.

"Giles, don't think that you've gotten rid of me. I'm still going to be coming home, a whole lot."

"Good," he says.

"Otherwise how am I going to get my laundry done?" she asks.

"I taught you how to do laundry. You can do your own laundry," Giles says. He has been desperately trying to prepare her for the real world.

"The machines at the dorm take quarters," Buffy pouts.

"Fine, if you are going to come home to do your laundry, _you_ actually have to do your laundry."

-The next day-

When Buffy uses her key to unlock the door to her own house she fully expects to see it like it's always been. She's unnerved when she finds her mother sitting on the living room couch in nothing but one of Giles's dress shirts, and Giles sitting next to her wearing a bathrobe.

"Oh God, gross!" she exclaims, covering her eyes and running up to her bedroom. When she gets there she discovers it is full of boxes.

"I really didn't expect you to be home this soon. It's still your room, I didn't move anything. They are just boxes from the gallery while we are doing inventory," her mother says, coming up behind her.

"Mom, can we talk about this when you are wearing pants?" she pleads.

"I'm sorry, honey, aren't I allowed to have a private life?" her mother asks.

"No, because you're…you're old, and it's gross." Buffy says with her eyes still closed shut.

"You were aware that your mother and I were having sex. We did make a baby, and we are living together," Giles points out.

"Aware of it, sure, but I didn't have to see you sitting around half dressed!" she explains. "This is icky, and gross, and…"

"Honey," Joyce says, putting out her arms to pull her daughter into a hug.

"Put on some pants!" Buffy exclains.

Her mother heads into the bedroom, and it looks like Giles is going to follow her when he's stopped by Buffy's voice.

"I came here because I needed your help," she admits.

"Are you having troubles with your studies?" Giles asks.

"There is a student missing."

"Yes."

"Eddie. He is supposed to have left school, but I don't think that he did. I met him outside last night, and when I went back to the place where I met him, it looked like there had been a struggle."

"And?" Giles prompts, looking like he isn't fully into this conversation.

"We need to stop this! Eddie's RA says that kids disappear all the time. We need research, and charts, and graphs."

"I still don't see where I fit in. You haven't described anything that you couldn't do yourself."

Buffy gets angry, "Ok, remember before you became Hugh Heffner when you used to be a Watcher?" she says in aggravation.

"Officially, you no longer have a watcher," he reminds her. "Buffy, you know that I will always be there when you really need me. Your safety is more important to me than anything, but…you are going to have to take care of yourself. You are out of school, and I can't always be there to guide you," he says into her eyes in such a way that makes it so she can't just lie to herself, and say that he is being selfish. There is no doubt about it, he is really doing this for her own good.

"I'm sorry to bug you," she says, turning away from him.

"Buffy." He stops her as she starts to walk away. He doesn't know why he's doing that. He wants her to go. He knows that the best thing for her in the long run is for her to go away right now. She needs to grow up, she needs to know that she can rely on herself. He just can't bear to watch her go through the kind of pain that it is going to take to do this kind of growing up.

She turns back to him. She's hurt, but she doesn't want to hurt him with this knowledge anymore than he wanted to hurt her. "Oh, no, you're right," she tells him, "I can handle this. I am on it."

"I am here if you need anything," he tells her.

"Where did Buffy go?" Joyce asks as she comes out of her bedroom.

"She went back to college," he says, staring at her retreating form.

"So, did you help her?" Joyce asks.

"I'm not sure," Giles says honestly.

-Later-

The vampire has been vanquished, and all is right with the world once again. As Buffy and her friends head back to her dorm, they see Giles running toward them carrying a whole arsenal of weapons. Weapons that would have been really useful about an hour ago.

"Buffy!" He runs up all out of breath.

"Hi Giles," Willow greets from behind a box.

"I have been awake all night. I know that I am supposed to teach you self-reliance, but I can't leave you out there to fight alone. To hell with what is right. I am ready to back you up. Let's find the evil, and fight it together."

Buffy has no reaction to his grand speech, because tonight she has not only learned that her friends will always be there to help her when the chips are down, but she has also learned that she can always rely on herself.

"Great, thanks, we'll get right on that," she says as she walks past him carrying the boxes of her things that she reclaimed from the dusted vampires.

Giles stands there flabbergasted by her tiny reaction. He had come here to save her from the thing that he didn't think she could fight on her own. It had not occurred to him that she might have already taken care of the problem, all by herself. "The evil is this way?" he asks.

"My room is," she tells him.

Willow hands him the giant box that she is carrying, and with some difficulty he shuffles around the crosses and weapons that he is carrying in order to accommodate it.

It turns out that he not only gets the pleasure of moving her into her room one time, but many times this year.

"So, I guess college is not so scary after all," Xander says to Buffy.

"It's turning out to be a lot like high school," she replies, "Which I can handle. At least I know what to expect."


	10. Turkey Day

-One Month Later, During "Living Conditions"-

This time Buffy doesn't use her key on the door to her house. It may be the place that she's called home, but she is definitely going to knock now. Give everyone plenty of time to put on lots and lots of clothes.

Before she even has a chance to knock, Giles runs up behind her in a sweat suit.

"You jog?" she asks incredulously.

"And jump, and occasionally frolic," Giles says, finding it just a little bit funny how horrified Buffy is by the fact that he has a life outside of hers.

"You aren't having one of those mid-life crisis things are you? Because the last time that happened I ended up with a brother."

"What's say we not joke about mistakes that lead to us being family," Giles says with a look that ensures that Buffy will not be bringing up the incident of the band candy any time soon. She starts to tell him about the demon that she encountered the night before.

When Giles gets up to leave, Buffy says, "You know, it's nice outside today."

"I know, your mother and I had tea on the porch this morning," he says.

"What are you doing today?" Buffy asks.

Giles can't help but smile in excitement as he says, "It's a big day for me actually, a friend of mine recently acquired an original Gutenberg demonography, and it suddenly occurs to me that you have never once asked me what my day's plans were. Which would lead me to enquire whether you are feeling entirely yourself."

"It's not true," Buffy says with a snarky shrug of her shoulders. "I ask about you all the time."

Giles's only response is to give her an incredulous look.

"Ok, well maybe the words don't actually make it out of my mouth, but I think about it," she admits.

"And it's appreciated, it still doesn't explain why you are hanging around here instead of rushing off as usual," he says.

"It's no big, I just figured I'd hang out here until, you know, my roommate goes to class," Buffy says, looking up at Giles with eyes which are clearly begging him not to send her away.

"Ah, I see," Giles says, giving up any ideas of getting to shower after his run. Buffy needs some parenting, and since he is the closest thing to a parent that she's ever had, it falls to him.

"I know it's probably just me having a bitch attack," Buffy says as Giles sits down beside her on the front porch.

"Buffy, living with someone is never easy, especially for an only child. Just think of all the adjustments that we had to make when I moved in."

"You mean like getting used to someone cooking and cleaning? Trust me, if she was as easy to get along with as you are I would not be having this problem."

-Later-

Buffy is explaining her dream to the Scooby gang when suddenly she is interrupted by her annoying roommate. "You can read dreams? Nifty!" Kathy says in a far-too-cheerful voice.

Buffy tries to remind herself to be grateful that this is the only thing that was overheard. This group says a lot weirder things than that. She just can't bring herself to be anything other than annoyed.

"Giles, this is Kathy. Kathy, this is Giles," she says, hoping that he is now going to see how annoying her roommate really is.

"Giles is Buffy's step dad…sort of," Willow says awkwardly. She regretted the words as soon as she'd said them. Now, not only did it sound like she was pushing Giles into marrying Buffy's mom, but it sounded like Giles's only connection with the group was because he was dating Joyce. He'd been part of the group long before that development.

Kathy sits down and starts telling Giles her dream. The only problem (well, not the only problem, but the most pressing one at the moment) was that the dream was exactly like Buffy's dream.

After Buffy leaves, the Scoobies discuss Buffy. Giles tries to alleviate their worries. He tries to convince them that everything is going to be ok. He would be a lot more convincing if he believed it himself.

-The Next Night-

"I'm sorry that I didn't believe you," Giles says.

"I didn't give you a whole lot of reason to. Everything I said was normal college stuff. There was no reason why you should assume demon," Buffy confesses.

"You said it was demons. I should have trusted your instincts." Giles pauses before he says the next thing. "You could move back home if you wanted to."

"Willow and I are going to share a room. It will be fine."

He nods his head, but he looks pained.

"You don't think I can do it, do you? I mean, it's college! People do it all the time."

"I just worry. Sometimes I think that your mother and I didn't prepare you enough for life. I just want it to be easy, I don't want to see you struggle. Life isn't supposed to be easy."

"You think I'll be fine?" Buffy asks.

Giles nods.

"Ok, then I'm not coming home."

-A month later, during "Beer Bad"-

"Are you disappointed in me?" Buffy asks in her little kid voice, the voice that she uses when she wants to get away with something.

Giles doesn't respond with anything but his face.

"It wasn't my fault. I didn't know that the beer was tainted with some kind of weird magic caveman stuff."

"But you knew it had alcohol in it," he says.

Buffy sighs.

"You're underage."

"See, if I was in England I would be of a legal age."

"We're not in England, and just because you are old enough to drink doesn't mean that you have to get drunk," Giles points out.

"Like you never drank, Mr. Ripper," she says with a roll of her eyes.

"See, that is what I'm worried about. When I had issues with substance abuse and bad magic, I was in a bad place emotionally. Buffy, did this boy hurt you that bad?" he asks with kindness in his eyes.

"I know that I shouldn't be affected by all of this. I'm the Slayer. I am this superhero, and I should be above all of this. I should have been smart enough never to go out with him in the first place."

"Buffy, you are not the only girl who has ever been taken in by a guy she thought was interested in more than just sex. You are young, and you are going to learn from this. It's not the end of the world."

"Then how come it feels like it?" she asks.

"I don't know," he says. He sighs. "I want to make this better. I wish I could just poof and make it better."

"You don't know a spell for that?" she asks hopefully.

"I really don't think magic is the way to go with this."

"It was a joke, Giles."

-A month later after "Pangs"-

"Your mom felt really bad that she couldn't be here for Thanksgiving," Giles tells Buffy after she pulls off a successful Thanksgiving.

"It is a little ironic that you were here for it, and she wasn't. You're not even family…technically anyway," Buffy points out.

"I have to admit that there is an ulterior motive to all of this," Giles says. "Your mother and I wanted to know…"

"It was a test to see if I was all grown up?" Buffy guesses.

"You passed with flying colors," he puts in.

"Is it because of the saving the world, or because I gave you mushy peas?" she asks.

"I already knew about the saving of the world stuff. The thing that really proved to me that you were all grown up the way you dealt with disappointment. You spent days planning a perfect feast, and then it was interrupted by a battle. You took it in stride. Buffy of a couple of years ago would have melted down."

"So you are saying that being grown-up means realizing the world sucks?" she asks.

Giles thinks for a moment before he answers, "No, it means making the world a little less, as you say, 'sucky'."


	11. Spell

-One year later, "Out of My Mind"-

"Who are you?" Joyce says, looking at her daughter. The voice has a stern accusation in it.

"What are you talking about?" Giles asks, turning toward her. He is just in time to catch her as he falls.

"Dawn, call 911!" he commands Dawn.

-Later-

"What's wrong?" Buffy says, running over to where Giles is sitting next to Dawn in the waiting room of the hospital.

"It's fine. They are still doing some tests, but they are pretty sure that everything is going to be fine," Giles assures her.

"I'm glad you were there for her," Buffy says.

"I was there too," Dawn pipes up.

Buffy is about to make a sarcastic remark about her little sister not being a lot of help. Then she catches a glare from Giles that reminds her that her little sister is scared. "Yes, thanks for that," Buffy says.

-A week later during "No place like home"

"I don't understand how come they haven't figured out what is wrong with Mom yet. I mean, they have been testing her straight for weeks. You think they would have figured it out by now."

"Patience, and time, that is all that we need," Giles says.

"Are you telling me that you aren't worried?" Buffy says.

"Of course I'm worried, but we are getting her all the medical attention that she needs. It's not like worrying about it is going to make it any better."

-The Next Day-

"Someone put a spell on my mom. Something to make it seem like she is sick," Buffy declares.

"That is a new kind of nasty, any suspects?" Xander asks.

"Well, I have the list narrowed down to just under infinity," Buffy says with a sad sigh.

"You know Buffy, there used to be this French sorcerer back in the 16th I don't know what named…"

"Cutlee?" Giles puts in when Anya seems stuck on the name.

"He had this one spell that demons just hated called Tirer La Couyeture" Anya continues.

"Rotate many food stuffs," Buffy guesses, displaying once again exactly how weak her Latin skills are.

"Pull the curtain back," Willow corrects.

"A spell to see spells. Well, a trance to see spells actually, but you get the idea. Try that," Anya offers.

"What do you mean, see spells?" Buffy asks.

"Well, all spells leave a trace signature that is not perceptible to the human eye. In this case it could be the image of a hand choking Joyce," Giles says, with concern written clearly on his face.

"Or a cloud of mist around her," Anya continues.

"Or maybe the shape of the demon that is performing the spell?" Willow offers with a bit of a hopeful question in her voice.

"It is possible, yes," Giles tells her.

"Ok, so I'll do what he did. I'll go home, I'll get trancy, and I'll see what is affecting my mom," Buffy says cheerfully.

"I don't know Buffy, trances?" Willow says skeptically.

"Yes, Buffy the sorcererr Cutlee was legendary. His skills at achieving higher states of consciousness were…." Giles tries to figure out a way to say this that won't hurt Buffy's feelings, but he can't find one.

"Better than mine?" Buffy offers bluntly. "I knew he was going to say that," she tells Willow. "But I have been practicing concentration, Giles, I know I'm close."

"Are you ready?" he asks.

"It's my mom. I'll get ready," Buffy says.

"Well, at least let me help you," Giles pleads.

-Later-

As soon as the trance begins to work, Buffy travels down the stairs to see her mother. She is shocked to see that her mother looks the same as she always does. Actually, a little better as she heads out the door. The medicine is working. Or the magic isn't perhaps. In any case, there is nothing to see around her mother's head.

There is however, a lot to see about her sister. Every picture that she sees of her sister is flicking in and out, as if her sister is both there and not there. When she goes into her bedroom she sees the same thing. It is blinking between a room only for her, and the one she shares with her sister.*

"What are you doing on my side of the room?" Dawn asks, coming into the room.

"You are not my sister," Buffy tells her. As soon as these words are out of her mouth the trance disappears.

"Yeah, like I even want to be related to your nasty self," Dawn sneers. Buffy moves across the room to grab her hard by her shoulders.

"Ow!" Dawn exclaims.

"What are you doing?" Buffy demands.

"Get off me!" Dawn demands.

"You want to hurt me?"  
"Stop it, you freak!"

"Then you deal with me," Buffy says with each word falling to the Earth with the force of an atomic bomb.

"I'm telling mom," Dawn threatens.

"You stay away from my mother," Buffy says, throwing her sister against the closed closet doors. The two sisters stare at each other.

"What are you doing to your sister?" Giles breaks in.

"She's not my sister! She's some kind of demon here trying to fool us! She's the one that is hurting Mom!" Buffy says.

"She's Dawn. We know that she's your sister. We can remember her," Giles says.

"When I was in the trance she kept blinking in and out. I'm telling you, something weird is up here," she says.

"There has to be some sort of an explanation," Giles says.

-Later, During "Family"-

"I found out what is going on with Dawn," Buffy tells Giles as the two of them have a bedtime cup of tea in the living room. Joyce went to bed early with a headache, and Dawn is up in her room after a heart to heart that Buffy had with Dawn, after she found out that her sister wasn't real anymore. Not that she'd actually told her sister that she wasn't real. But she had apologized for her actions, which was sort of ironic, since she'd just found out they were completely justified.

"Are you sure it isn't what is going on with you?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"She's not real," Buffy says. Giles shakes his head and opens his mouth to say something, but Buffy cuts him off. "I know this sounds crazy, but it's not coming from me. There was this monk, and he said that there was some key. They had to hide this key, and they hid it in her. Well, that's not true. They made her in order to hide the key."

"She's a person, Buffy, she's been around forever. You know that as well as I do."

"That's the thing, Giles, they messed with our memories. I saw it when I was in the trance. There was no magic around my mother, but there was a whole bunch around Dawn. She's some magic thing, not my sister."

"I don't know what to say," Giles says after a sigh of disbelief. "She has no idea?"

"No, she thinks she's my kid sister," Buffy tells him.

"Are you going to tell her?" he asks.

"How can I?" Buffy asks in shock. She can't imagine what it would feel like to suddenly find out that you weren't who you thought you were. More than that, that you weren't really anyone at all. That your whole life was a lie, and that you had no real existence. "She'd freak. It's the last thing that we need." Buffy stands up and walks across the room. She stares up the staircase to where her sister lays in bed, happily asleep. Blissfully unaware. "We have to keep her safe."

"Should we be thinking of sending her away?" Giles asks with concern.

"Away where?"

"I don't know, maybe to your father's?"

"Yeah, he's in Spain, with his secretary. Living the cliché. I remember when he bailed on us, Dawn cried for like a week. Except she didn't. She wasn't there. But I can still feel what it was like."

Giles puts his hand over his mouth in shock.

"They sent her to me, Giles, I think I have to take care of her. I want to."

"I'm going to help you do that," he promises before asking, "Do we tell the others?"

"No, no one. They would act weird around her, and it's safer for everyone if they don't know." Buffy says. Silence looms in the room for a couple of seconds, and then Buffy says, "I'm going to move back home."

"You don't have to do that," Giles tells her.

"I just told you that I was going to take care of Dawn, that I felt it was my responsibility. I can't do a whole lot of that from my dorm room."

"Buffy, your mom and I were going to tell you and Dawn something this weekend. I think I'm going to have to let it leak a little early so you don't make life decisions based on a lack of information," he tells her.

"Ok," she says slowly, sounding confused.

"We're getting married," he says matter-of-factly.

"Wow, congratulations! You finally popped the question!" Buffy exclaims.

"Well, technically speaking, she popped the question to me," he says, using the strange voice that he always uses when he attempts an American colloquialism.

"Ok, well it's still great news, right? How come your face isn't making a great news face?" Buffy asks, looking critically at him.

"Well, the news is great. Marrying your mother is great. The reason that we are doing it is less than great," he tells her. "Your mother wants to make sure that you and Dawn are taken care of…"

"I case she dies," Buffy says with anger in her voice as she stands up, and turns away.

"Buffy…." Giles says quickly, following her.

"No, that is what this is about, right? Mom wants to make sure that we have someone to take care of us in case she dies. Well, I've got news for you, we don't need someone to take care of us. If it came down to it, I could take care of us," Buffy says, beginning what seems destined to be a much longer rant.

She is cut off by Giles's soothing voice, "You don't have to. Look, I love both of you. I have been thinking about marrying your mother for some time now. This just…sped things up a bit. This doesn't mean that we think she is going to die. We don't. Preparing for something and expecting it are two separate things. We haven't given up fighting."

"I still want to come back home," Buffy says firmly.

"Ok," he says with a nod of his head.

"I guess I should say welcome to the family or something now, only that's a little bit weird, because you've been a member of the family for quite some time."

He smiles at her.

"Are your parents coming down for the wedding?"

He nods his head. "It's going to be a quiet little family thing, but they are family."

*In this version I'm sure Dawns room would be the baby's, and the sisters would share.


	12. In Sickness and Health

"We can postpone the wedding," Giles says as he catches Joyce supporting herself on the edge of the counter and doing this strange breathing she's picked up as a pain relief mechanism.

"I'm fine," she tells him quickly.

"I don't want you to be miserable on our wedding day," he says, wrapping an arm around her and nuzzling into her neck.

"How could I possibly be miserable when I'm marrying you?" she asks, leaning into his body for even more closeness.

"Nasty," Dawn complains, entering the room.

"Shut up," Buffy says.

Both of the adults turn to her with no small amount of surprise. Usually she is the one making negative comments on their displays of affection.

"I mean, you're getting married today. It would be kind of weird if you weren't all over each other."

"Parents just aren't supposed to kiss. It should be like a law or something," Dawn says.

Giles's eyes go all soft at the rather veiled reference to him as a "parent". It's not lost on Buffy, and she knows that she could probably mark this day by calling him Dad. She's just not sure that she could actually do that. It's not because he isn't like a dad to her, he is. It's more because her real dad, the person that she's called dad her whole life, wasn't much of a dad. So it feels like calling Giles 'dad' would be making Giles less than he is.

She just wished there was some way she could let him know all of that without, you know, actually having to say it.

"So, I know this is just supposed to be a small city hall wedding, and we aren't even going to get all dressed up, but Dawn and I thought we should hold to at least a little bit of tradition," Buffy says dramatically.

Dawn unfolds her hands to reveal two bright blue gem earrings.

"Are they from the magic shop?" Giles asks suspiciously.

"Yes, they're old, and blue, and borrowed," Buffy says.

"Also cursed," Giles adds.

Dawn drops them like they are made out of fire.

"They won't do any harm as long as you didn't put them on. You didn't put them on, did you?" he asks picking them up.

Dawn shakes her head in a bit of shock.

"Ok, in that case all I have left is the new thing…" Buffy says with a shrug, pulling a charm bracelet out from behind her back. Off it hangs a charm for every member of the family, including Giles.

"Wow, girls, this is so beautiful! You know you didn't have to get me anything," she says, going to hug each of them.

When the hugs are finished Dawn continues, "We don't have some old saying for you. I mean, we should have, because you like old saying more than she does, we just don't know that many. Well, here it is," she says pulling an old book out from behind her.

He takes it with the smile that you might wear when you take a drawing by a small child. Then he actually sees the title. "No, the last copy of this was burnt at Salam during the witch trials," he tells them.

"It turns out that a witch did a spell to make it look like it was burning," Buffy offers.

"How on Earth did you get a hold of this?" he asks, incredulous.

"Ebay," Buffy tells him.

Giles stares at her blankly.

"You know, on the computer," Dawn offers.

"You got this old book from a computer?" Giles says, a bit confused.

"No, we just bought it on the computer…never mind," Buffy says, shaking her head.

"Girls, this had to cost way too much, I can't accept this," he protests.

"The person selling it had no idea what he had. I don't suppose many people who like dusty old books on the supernatural log on to Ebay. It really wasn't that expensive," Dawn says.

He then hugs both of the girls, and says a heartfelt "Thank you," when they are in his arms.

"You're welcome, Dad," Dawn says.

Giles pulls away to reveal a thousand watt grin, and Buffy finds herself furious. Now she will be expected to say it, and even if she does she's not going to get any credit.

It's not fair, especially since Dawn isn't even real. If she wasn't here, Buffy could have said it whenever she felt ready.

"Welcome to the family, Dad," she says, but the word tastes weird on her tongue, and sounds just as weird to the ear. She messed it up, and would have been better off not saying anything at all. Now everyone in the room knows how weird she feels about calling him that.

"It's ok if you keep calling me Giles," he tells both the girls, but he is obviously just speaking to one of them.

Buffy's cheeks go read. Now even if she explains why that word is weird or hard for her to say, it is going to sound like she is just making excuses. She opens her mouth to say something, but she can't think of anything to say so it just opens and closes a couple of times like a fish.

Luckily Giles's parents come down the stairs just then carrying their little grandson, and ready to go to the wedding, so no other explanation is needed.

-Later-

Halfway through the wedding Joyce's face goes pale in a way that her family has learned to recognize means she's in extreme pain.

Giles puts his hand on her elbow, and lightly asks, "Are you ok?" even though the Justice of the Peace is still talking.

"Fine," she mouths without saying a word.

Giles doesn't believe her, and looks around even though he's not sure what he is looking for. Buffy grabs a nearby chair and pulls it up behind her mother. Joyce doesn't object anymore, but takes a seat in it.

"Should I continue?" the Justice asks. Even though she was clued into to Joyce's sickness she isn't sure what she should do next.

"Yes," Joyce says.

Giles gets down on his knees, and holds out his hands to her.

"You can't kneel the whole time," Joyce objects.

"If you can marry me when you're sick, I can spend a little time on my knees to marry you," he says.

-Later-

Joyce went to bed not long after they went home. Giles stayed up with the rest of his family celebrating the marriage, which was just a bit more than gloomy when the bride wasn't there, because she was so sick.

When he finally goes to bed he tries desperately not to wake her up, but he fails.

"Heck of a wedding night, huh?" she asks.

"It is worst for you. Are you feeling any better?" he asks softly.

"Not really," she says honestly as he slips under the covers next to her. "Giles, what if I die?" she asks after a few moments of silence.

"You are not going to die," he tells her almost as a reflex.

"I could," she says with so much honesty in her voice that it's hard to ignore it.

"We're going to figure out what is wrong with you."

"Giles, right now I really need to talk about what might happen," she says with a cold voice.

He grabs her hand under the blanket. "Then I'll try to raise your children the way you would."

"Will you be ok? All of you?"  
"We'll have to be," he says.

"Alec is so little. He's not going to remember me," she says.

"We'll tell him so much about you that he'll know you better than he would have if he grew up with you."

"Dawn is at an age where she really needs a mom. There are so many girl issues."

"She has Buffy," he points out.

"Buffy isn't grown up. She thinks she is, but she is a long way away from it, and I am worried that she might never be grown up."

"She'll get there," he assures her.

"What about you?" she asks, rolling toward him.

"I'll miss you."

"Was loving me a mistake? Were you better off if you and I never got together?"

"No. Joyce. Even if you die, which I don't think you will. I'm not going to regret loving you. Some things are worth breaking your heart over," he says touching her face.

"What if I'm sick forever?" she asks softly.

"Then I'll turn over heaven and earth to make you better," he says.

She snuggles into him in the same way that the two of them did the first night that they were together, and they go to sleep with a contented sigh.

-A week later-

Giles knows that he should go into the bedroom. It would be good for him to monitor how Joyce is doing. She's sick, and the doctor's wouldn't have let her leave apart from the fact that he and Buffy had both promised to watch her closely.

He has watched her, mostly.

If he goes into their bedroom and wakes her up she's going to say something mean. Something awful.

He shouldn't let it bother him.

Still, when the woman you love calls you a sperm donor or a British prig, it tends to sting a bit. Sleeping on the couch seems to be preferable to all that.

Joyce begins talking. Endlessly talking in the other room. None of what she says makes any sense.

He really doesn't want to go in and take care of her, but he knows that he could calm her down if he goes. As soon as he opens the door he sees a giant demon crouching on the ceiling and staring at her with beady eyes.

"Buffy!" he screams. The demon falls from the ceiling on to Joyce. He reaches into his bedside table where he keeps a few emergency weapons, and he draws out an ancient knife which he stabs into the side of the beast. It is only enough pain to make the thing angry, and it lunges at him.

Buffy comes in as he wrestles with the demon on the ground. Together they kill the demon. They lay panting on the floor side by side with the dead demon still partially on top of him.

"They should have told him at the gate," Joyce says from the bed, and that is a whole lot more terrifying than the demon that they just killed.


	13. The End

-Three Weeks Later, During "The Body"-

The world falls out from under her feet when she hears the message. "Buffy, your mom, hospital." It has to be pretty desperate circumstance when Giles can't even form a complete sentence.

She thought it was all over. She thought her mom was better. This whole thing is just really, really unfair.

He's in the waiting room bouncing Alec. The kid isn't even fussing, and Buffy suspects the motion might be more about calming Giles than calming the kid.

"What happened?" she asks.

"We're sitting there having tea, and all of a sudden she says she has a headache. Just like she used too, except, different. A second later she told me that she was dizzy, but her speech was all slurred. I called 911. Then she just…fell. I did CPR. I did it until they came," he says, stunned.

"It's going to be fine," she tells him. It's the kind of thing that he used to tell her all of the time.

"No, Buffy, I don't think so," he says.

She takes the baby from Giles, but she can tell right away that this isn't actually providing the help that she thought it would. He needs to comfort someone else right now, and it isn't right to deprive him of that. She hands him his son back.

"She'll be fine. The doctors…" Buffy begins trying to comfort him like he did to her so many times. Just then they are interrupted by a doctor.

"Are you Joyce Summer's family?" the man asks softly.

"Yes," Buffy says rushing toward him, but Giles is unwilling to move.

"I'm very sorry…" he begins, and Giles feels like he has been punched in the gut.

"You have to help her. Do whatever you need to…." Buffy continues.

"I'm sorry," the doctor interrupts her to repeat. He thinks that he is delivering a message, but it is no more than a repeat of the empty message he's already given her.

"No, you have to…" Buffy says, beginning to understand, but unwilling to let the silence allow it to sink into her head.

"Buffy," Giles says, touching her shoulder softly.

She turns to him and begins to weep uncontrollably, falling apart in a way she wouldn't be able to if she was alone.

"Buffy, I have to get Dawn, from school," he says a few minutes later after Buffy has exhausted herself from crying and the doctor has left.

"I'll come with," she says.

-Later-

By the time they get out of the school Alec is the only one not crying. He's just lost his mother, but he doesn't have a clue.

The rest of them know it, at least on some intellectual level, but it doesn't seem real to them right now.

Giles offers to drop the girls off at home before he deals with funeral arrangements. The girls volunteer to come along, not out of some desperate need to make the funeral a certain way, but rather out of a need not to be left alone.

They are halfway through the meeting when Buffy realizes that Giles is the only one even remotely qualified to do this.

She can't even plan her mother's funeral.

What if Giles wasn't here? She'd be in charge of not only this, but of raising younger siblings. Then she realizes if Giles wasn't in her life it would only be one sibling.

That is hard for her to imagine.

-A Week Later-

He tried to ignore it. He thought that maybe he could pretend it away. Maybe if he just gave her a little time to grieve it would be ok.

Then he noticed a few more rare artifacts go missing, and he knew that he couldn't ignore it anymore.

He waits until Buffy leaves for parole, and then he goes up to the girl's room.

"Dawn," he says softly.

"Yes," she says, completely unsuspecting.

"You took earrings from my magic shop," he says.

"I apologized, and gave them back. I didn't know they were cursed." Then she turns to him in horror. "That didn't have anything to do with mom's death did it?"

"No!" he practically shouts. Maybe he should have waited longer after her mother's death before he brought this up. Maybe bad behavior was to be expected when someone just lost a parent.

"Ok, well, did the curse make something else bad happen?"

"Was it the only thing that you took?" he asks.

Her eyes give her away before she can stop it.

"How long has this been going on, Dawn?" he asks.

She goes over to her jewelry box, and dumps it onto the bed, saying, "It started when Mom first got sick. I knew that it was wrong, and I knew that it didn't really make sense, but whenever I took something I felt better for a little bit. It's stupid."

"It's common," he corrects. "These aren't all from the magic shop."

She shakes her head, hanging it in shame.

"Dawn, have you been stealing from shops?"

She nods her head lightly.

"Well, this all has to go back, and you are going to have to pay them interest for the time that you had their belongings. If you don't have enough money, you can borrow it from me, and you can work at the magic shop to pay it back. I'm going to go through your stuff every now and again to make sure you haven't started stealing again. Does all of this sound fair?"

She nods her head slowly, "You've got to hate me."

"Of course not Dawny. I love you, but I do worry about you."

"How do you make the pain go away?" she asks suddenly, meeting him eye to eye.

He shifts uncomfortably trying to figure out how honest to be in his answer. "Mostly I don't. I hurt all the time, Dawn. Pain isn't fun, but that doesn't mean that it is something to run from."

"Is it going to hurt forever?" Dawn asks softly.

"Yes," he admits, and when her face falls he adds, "But not like this. Grief doesn't stop hurting, but it gets less sharp. It reaches the point where you can live with it without it pulling you apart. I lost some friends in my Ripper days, Dawn. It hurt so bad that I thought I would never be able to survive it without something to dull the pain. So I used magic and drugs. It didn't make the pain less, not really, not for more than a couple seconds, and it came with its whole other set of problems. I had to get over all of those addictions, and then I still had to deal with the pain. I don't want that for you. Let's just deal with the pain."

Dawn nods. Giles give her a tiny half smile, then reaches out his arms, and gives her a hug.

-A month later "The Gift"-

"She saved the world. A lot." What better words could you use to sum up the life of Buffy Summers?

They aren't enough though. Nothing would be enough.

When Giles first became a Watcher he knew that he was going to lose his Slayer. Almost all Watchers did. That was before he met her. That was before the two of them had become closer than family. That was before he became her stepfather. That was before he had promised her dying mother that he would take care of her.

He hadn't done that. He'd let her die. He'd watched her die.

It was a good death, a death that saved her sister, and the rest of the world, but it was a death all the same.

-Later that night-

Dawn can't sleep. She gets up to go watch some TV. She freezes in the hallway when she hears Giles downstairs talking to his mother.

"You should come home," Matilda says.

"I am home," he says.

"Giles, you have a responsibility to your offspring. It made sense to stay in the Colonies when Joyce was alive. It even made sense when Buffy was alive, after all the Slayer ought to stay by the Hell Mouth, but now… You know that your father and I have raised children before."

"Are you saying that I am not a good father?" Giles asks with his voice sounding a little bit terse.

"Of course not. But no one can do this alone," Matilda replies.

Dawn doesn't wait around to hear Giles's response. She goes to her room and drowns her pillow in tears. Everyone leaves her.

-The next morning-

Dawn stays completely silent throughout the large British breakfast (this one complete with blood pudding).

"Dawny, are you ok?" he asks. He flinches as soon as she says it, knowing it's a ridiculous question. Of course she isn't ok, her sister just died.

Dawn shrugs.

"We'll go get Alec ready for the day," Jasper says, picking up his grandson and making a hasty retreat.

"So when are you leaving?" Dawn asks bitterly.

"What are you talking about?" Giles asks.

"Mom is gone, Buffy is gone. You and Alec don't really have a reason to stay here anymore do you?"

"Dawn, we are not about to go anywhere unless you are coming too. Where is this coming from?" he asks.

"I heard you talking to Matilda last night about leaving," Dawn says.

"Oh, honey. Your grandmother invited us to come live with her in England, all of us. She's worried about my being a single father," he explains.

"So I'm going too?" Dawn asks stunned.

"I wasn't actually planning on going. I didn't want to uproot you from everything you've ever known. But…grandparents are important, and maybe I am not qualified to raise you and Alec by myself."

"No! That wasn't what I was saying. Giles, you're like the best ever. I just thought…I'm not really your daughter, and I wasn't sure…"

"You weren't really your Mom's daughter either. Not physically anyway," he points out. "You and I, Dawn, we're together forever, for better or worse."

"You know I don't really have anything to be uprooted from right, not really. I mean, I have a lot of memories of Sunnydale, but they're all fake?"

"Do you want to go to England?" he asks in surprise.

She smiles. "British accents are dreamy."

He looks at her surprised.

"Well, not in you obviously, because you are old."

He giggles. Then his face grows a bit more grave. "I'm not sure I'm ready for you to be thinking of anyone's accent as dreamy."

She leans against his shoulder giggling.

-Three Months Later During "The Bargaining"-

Dawn knows there is something wrong as soon as she walks into the house after school. Matilda is baking cookies. She always gets Susie Homemaker when she is worried.

"Where is Giles?" she asks.

"In America," Jasper says directly.

"What?" Dawn asks in shock.

"He didn't want to come get you out of school. He knew that was hard for you when your mom died," Matilda explains.

"Someone died?" Dawn asks, feeling as if she is going to break apart for sure this time.

"No, honey, no, the opposite actually," Jasper says.

"What is the opposite of dying?" she asks. Then she realizes, "Oh my God, Buffy is alive?"

Her grandparents nod, and smile thinking that she would be ecstatic at the news.

"My sister came back to life, and he didn't think I might want to go see her?" she asks.

"We didn't say that," Jasper says handing her a ticket., "He didn't want to traumatize you by pulling you out of school. So we waited to take you."

"You're going too?" Dawn asks surprised.

"Of course, our Buffy has come back to life!" Matilda says.

-Two weeks Later-

"I can't believe you guys were living in England," Buffy says in shock a couple of days later.

"I thought your sister could do with a bit more family," Giles tells her softly. "So are you going back there?" Buffy asks sadly.

"Not unless you want to come with us. We're a family, and if you think it is important to stay around the Hell Mouth we can do that," Giles tells her.

"I feel like I've been keeping you away from your home for a long time, for way too long," Buffy says sadly.

"You and your siblings are my home," he tells her. "I am perfectly happy staying here."

-The End-


End file.
